A southeast Calgary community is rallying and raising funds after a family that put up a large inflatables display over the holidays had one of its pieces stolen.
For the past two years, the Fenning family in Chaparral has been putting up their inflatables for the enjoyment of the community. But, this Christmas season the family’s beloved giant storm trooper was stolen, leaving them devastated.
“I cried several times for several days in a row,” says Leah Fenning. “It looks like someone probably hung off of him, and because they are stitched very well….and yeah, we never found him.”
“I’m not sure where he ended up.”
A giant storm trooper inflatable part of a holiday display setup by a family at their home in SE Calgary.
Fenning made an online post to see if anyone saw anything or knew of the storm trooper’s whereabouts. That post didn’t go unnoticed and sparked an idea from a man who drove past the Fenning’s festive display frequently with his family.
Walden resident Preet Chala made his own Facebook post, attempting to raise money for the stolen piece.
“I saw Leah’s post and she was trying to track down who stole it,” says Chala. “And I knew I couldn’t really help her in tracking the individual down, but I thought what I could do was put something together and raise some funds.”
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His post gathered a lot of attention and the fundraising quickly grew to $870.
“I just thought a few people would donate, maybe we would get a couple hundred bucks,” he says. “My company and myself, we topped it up to $1,000 and handed the cheque to Leah, it was great.”
Along with the $1,000 worth of donations, the Fenning’s were also gifted a Santa inflatable, to add to what Leah hopes will be her biggest display yet next Christmas.
“It just shows that if you put good out there, and try to make people happy, it does come back,” says Leah Fenning.