Cornelius business showered with Christmas decorations after now-arrested Grinch steals wreath
CORNELIUS, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — It’s not Christmas yet but one Cornelius business received several gifts Thursday morning after two wreaths were stolen from its building the day before.
These wreaths are the first thing EDU Healthcare workers see in the morning, and now they bring a different type of joy this Christmas season.
“The first night that we didn’t bring them in was the night that this woman came and stole the wreaths in the middle of the night,” said EDU Healthcare Executive Director Lynne Nichol.
Nichol’s business provides educational services to children with intellectual disabilities.
She says they were shocked to watch this surveillance footage of a woman, casually taking the wreaths off the door just before 2 a.m. Wednesday morning.
“She came upon our building, sashayed out of her car, scooped up the wreaths, put them in the front seat of her car, and was in and out in a minute and 12 seconds,” Nichol said.
She contacted Cornelius Police who jumped on the case. By Wednesday afternoon, authorities had a suspect and by Thursday morning, police said they had the thief in custody.
Then Nichol got a call from Lowe’s Home Improvement that changed the company’s entire day. Nichol says the Mooresville-based retailer’s chief operating officer and senior vice president saw Wednesday’s Queen City News story.
That executive was touched by the services the company provides especially since he has a child with autism.
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Nichol says Lowe’s sent the business something to bring the Christmas joy back.
“And within an hour, I had an entire team here,” she said. “We now have wreaths. We have beautiful decorations all over the office.”
The Lowe’s team brought poinsettias, white stockings and even a towering Christmas tree.
“The holidays are not really about gift giving,” Nichol said. “It’s what comes from the heart and doing things that are not expected. Surprises are things that extend to people maybe less fortunate or people who don’t expect things. So this was bringing the magic of Christmas.”
EDU Healthcare partners with a nearby charity, which those looking to help can support.
“We’ve gotten a lot of feedback from social media about the community wanting to provide decorations and wreaths we partner with Make An Impact in Davidson, which is a phenomenal organization that we’ve partnered with for years,” Nichol said. “So, anyone who wants to donate any type of decorations on our behalf, we’re going to pass that along and give back to Make An Impact.”
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