Posted by
Billy on Friday, December 26, 2008 7:18:03 PM
Last Christmas, Tiffany Buchanan bought one present.
For herself.
She remembers her family's scorn. "Tiffany," they said, "that's so disrespectful."
She shrugged it off. Whatever.
This Christmas will be different.
The 16-year-old, with reddish-brown bangs that hang in her face, has spent the last 11 months at Omaha's Uta Halee Girls Village, a psychiatric residential treatment program for youths ages 12 to 18.
Uta Halee organizes Cindy's Super Saver, a holiday program that rewards residents for good behavior and teaches them about giving.
It started seven years ago when dietary supervisor Cindy Heaton noticed a boy crying because he had no Christmas presents for his family.
Heaton raided her "Christmas closet" at home, where she stashes bargains that she buys year-round, and gave the boy five presents to give. "He needed something, and I had it," she said.
The boy was so touched she would help him. Maybe there are more kids like him, she thought.
Her good will has evolved into Cindy's Super Saver.
