ODESSA, Texas — Burger Barn owner Tiffany Norman and her family wanted to make sure that kids at the Ector County Youth Center are not forgotten about and that someone still cares for them.
That's why they decided to donate gift bags filled with some food and a book to make them feel less lonely.
"Just because they might have got themselves into some trouble or be in a bad situation, we just wanted to give them some hope," Norman said. "We chose to give them a book that we thought would really speak to them and just gave them some chips, cookies and candy, so it can at least put a smile on their face for a few minutes on Christmas Day."
Facility Administrator Albert Aguirre said they haven't seen a gesture quite like this one.
"I've been here going on 12 years and we've had people donate like you know food and things, but as far as gift bags and things like that, I don't think we've had that before," Aguirre said.
The book that Norman decided to include in the gift bag is "Concrete Rose," a read that she says many in the youth center can relate to.
"We chose it for several reasons," Norman said. "They might have seen the movie, "The Hate U Give," and this is actually a prequel to that. It was actually about a father leaving a certain lifestyle and the streets alone, even though it was a really hard decision for him. Just choosing himself and his family, and we thought it would be something that really might speak to these kids who are going through a hard time."
Aguirre said that giving these kids something to read is not only a way to pass time, but also something the youth center kids enjoying doing.
"I think they'll be very appreciative of it, and they are going to like that," Aguirre said. "You know, we do have a lot of kids who like to read back there, so we have a lot of kids that do ask for new books and things like that, so they are going to be very grateful of it for sure."
This is the first time that Norman and her family decided to do something like this, and they hope to make a tradition out of giving gifts to the incarcerated youth.
"We'd like to continue to do this every year," Norman said. "Same thing with our Thanksgiving first annual give back, we hope to continue that as well."