Sometimes elves trade in their red and green uniforms to dress in blue and white.  That was the case yesterday when Mount Dora Police Department treated a family from northeast Mount Dora with a special Christmas. 

Nehemiah Williams, age 2, suffers from a rare liver disease and is on the liver transplant list awaiting a match.  Nehemiah's older sister, Kearani, is 5.

Representatives of the police department met with the child’s mother who had to stop working due to Nehemiah’s medical condition.  As the agency got to know her, they learned she is a single mother facing a tough road ahead with Nehemiah’s pending transplant.

MDPD contacted friends, businesses, and officers to relay the information.  Within days, the department gathered gift donations from local businesses, including Target, Wal-Mart, Lake Cares Food Pantry, the Women’s Club of Country Club, Florida DCF, Mount Dora Heroes Foundation and police officers.

“It’s a great honor to be part of a community that comes together for a family in need,” says John O’Grady, Chief of Police. “The Williams family will truly have a Christmas to remember and we are proud to be involved.”

MDPD showered the Williams family with a Christmas celebration yesterday at the police station.  Santa Claus joined in for the surprise celebration.

By all accounts, the biggest hit of the day was the gift of a toy police cruiser and being shown the  real cruiser with the lights flashing.  

After the party, it is reported that Santa was so impressed he placed a call to the North Pole to request more blue and white elves.

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Below:  Assistant Police Chief, Robert Bell, shows Nehemiah a cruiser.

The Lake County Solid Waste Division is encouraging Lake County residents to dispose of toxic materials in a safe and environmentally sensitive way at an upcoming Household Hazardous Waste Collection event. The county’s Household Hazardous Waste Mobile Unit will be on site from 9 a.m. – noon on Thursday, Dec. 17, at the Walmart parking lot, located at 17030 U.S. Highway 441, in Mount Dora. 

Representatives will be on-hand to collect small quantities of unused or unwanted waste products such as lawn and gardening materials, photo and swimming pool chemicals, paint and related products, cleaning solutions, motor oil and used gas, batteries, fluorescent lamps, light bulbs and small propane tanks.
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The staff at the event will be offering convenient drive-thru disposal of items so residents won’t have to leave their vehicles. Materials such as infectious waste, solvents, chemical laboratory waste and radioactive waste are prohibited.    Excessive amounts of hazardous materials will not be accepted due to limited space in the mobile unit. 

The collection event is open to Lake County residents only.
For more information about this event, or to find out about future collection events, visit:www.lakecountyfl.gov/hazardouswaste or call the Lake County Solid Waste Division at 352-343-3776.