An incredibly generous preschool director spent her nights and weekends driving for Uber in order to earn enough money to buy Christ...
An incredibly generous preschool director spent her nights and weekends driving for Uber in order to earn enough money to buy Christmas presents for all the kids in her school — and their siblings.
Renee Dixon, who runs Lynhurst Baptist Church Preschool in Indianapolis, told Good Morning America that almost all of the children enrolled there live below the poverty line, so having their basic needs met — much less getting Christmas presents — is not a guarantee.
So Renee, 47, took up a pair of side jobs this year, first as an Uber driver to earn some extra cash, and then as Santa Claus to deliver gifts to all 50 pre-school students and their brothers and sisters.
Above and beyond: A preschool director has spent nights and weekends driving for Uber to earn enough money to buy Christmas presents for all the kids in her school — and their siblings
Generous: Renee Dixon, who runs Lynhurst Baptist Church Preschool in Indianapolis, has been driving for Uber and Lyft since November, working until 1 or 2 a.m. on weeknights and pulling full-time hours on the weekend
Most of her students live below the poverty line, and some parents had admitted they couldn't get Christmas gifts this year
'A lot of the parents were telling me they can't buy their kids anything,' Dixon said.
'I know how that feels, and I never want a child to ever feel that things you dream about never, ever come true, or that things you pray about never come true, or that the world isn't fair because of their living situation.
'I want them to feel that somebody did this for me, and I didn't ask them to do it for me, but they did it anyways,' she said.
So four years ago, in addition to working as a teacher, Dixon began driving for Uber to earn extra money.
'I drive until about 1 or 2 in the morning,' she told the Washington Post, adding that she will also drive 12 hours on Saturdays and six hours on Sundays.
She's continued the tradition since then, and started driving for Lyft too — even during during this year's pandemic, in which she lost three family members to COVID-19.
Do-gooder: She used the money she earned to go to Target and buy toys, games, and winter clothes
'I never want a child to ever feel that things you dream about never, ever come true,' she said. 'This is something everyone should be doing'
'I want them to feel that somebody did this for me, and I didn't ask them to do it for me, but they did it anyways,' she said
The pandemic has been hard on her as well as the families at the school. Enrollment is down as local parents have lost their jobs and been unable to pay for the pre-school.
'So many of our families don’t have money to get Christmas presents this year. Some parents have lost their jobs, others have had their wages cut back,' she said. 'A lot of them already come from low-income families and are below the poverty line.'
But Dixon did everything in her power to bring a little happiness to everyone, including the 12 staff members at the school, who she gave $50 gifts.
With her Uber and Lyft money, she also headed to Target, where she bought students games, toys, and winter clothes.
'This year, with COVID and everything that has really been taken away from the kids, at no fault of their own, I had to do something,' she said.
'The location of where the school is, it's not in the best neighborhood, but we make the best out of everything.'
'This year, with COVID and everything that has really been taken away from the kids, at no fault of their own, I had to do something,' she said
Spreading joy: Her story has also inspired other people in the area to reach out and offer donations to pay for the gifts, and Uber has matched her earnings
'A lot of the kids have siblings, and I didn’t want them to feel left out,' she added, explaining why she also got presents for the students' siblings.
Since the news broke, Uber has praised Renee and offered to match the money she has raised for gifts.
'We're humbled by Renee's kindness, and we're delighted to help her efforts go twice as far for her community,' a spokesperson told GMA. 'With this gift, we're wishing Renee and her students a safe and joyful holiday season.'
Her story has also inspired other people in the area to reach out and offer donations to pay for the gifts, according to WTHR.
Dixon, meanwhile, doesn't like getting too much attention for her good deed.
'I don't like a big deal made about this, because this is something everyone should be doing,' she said. 'Taking care of kids and making sure people's needs are met and kids' needs are met, that's something everybody should be doing, and all year-round, not just at Christmas.'
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