In the early morning hours of January 25, 2019, Margaret Jones awoke suddenly to loud explosions from outside.

  Looking out her window, she saw that her 40 foot motorhome was on fire. The loud noise that awoke her were its tires exploding.

  Before she knew it, the fire had spread to her home and then to her personal vehicle.

  “My husband was sleeping downstairs and he can’t hear and I can barely walk around,” said Margaret. “Somehow or another I managed to get down the steps enough to yell,’ The house is on fire! Get out of here!’”

  She then called 911.

  Luckily, Margaret and John made it out of their home safely with their beloved dog in tow.

  Margaret credits the efforts of the Rockdale County firefighters that responded to the scene in saving her and her family’s lives.

  “There was a fireman, as I was crawling away from the fire, that helped me get away from the embers that were coming down towards me,” said Margaret.

  However, she was unable to personally thank the firefighters that rescued her family that morning in a fire that destroyed their Rockdale County home, their personal vehicle, and their motorhome.

  “Our lives were in such a mess at that time that I did not have a way of finding out which fireman helped us out of the house,” said Margaret. “We lost everything, all of our legal documents, everything we had. There was just nothing but ashes.”

  Following the fire, in May of 2019, Margaret and John relocated to The Retreat at Westridge in McDonough.

  “Previously, we lived for 10 years in Henry County,” said Margaret. “Henry County holds a special place in my heart.”

  Shortly after the coronavirus pandemic began, firefighters once again made an entrance into Margaret and John’s lives.

  Members of the McDonough Fire Department showed up in their neighborhood with COVID-19 safety guideline pamphlets and offered their assistance if any of the residents were in need of grocery or prescription pick-ups, as Margaret and John live in a 55 and older community.

    “It brought tears to my eyes when the McDonough fireman came and handed me the letter, the guidelines and everything and then the offer to pick up groceries and prescriptions, even though we did not need the assistance,” said Margaret. “It was such a great gesture by the fire department here in McDonough.”

  Margaret and John were struck by the thoughtfulness of the McDonough Fire Department and resolved to return the kindness shown to them by the firemen present on the morning of their house fire a little more than a year ago.

  “I thought this was one way I could pay back, even though I am not paying back the firemen that helped me in Rockdale County,” said Margaret. 

  Upon receiving their stimulus checks, Margaret and John decided to spend a portion of it purchasing dinner for McDonough Fire Stations, numbers 51 and 52, while also supporting a local business.

  “We have a very small restaurant that is down the street from us. I thought a win/win would be for me to supply dinner to the fire department and also to help out the small restaurant, Cravings Home Cooking,” said Margaret.   

  Lt. Barry Jenkins, a paramedic with McDonough Fire Station 52 said that he and his coworkers were grateful for the dinners purchased by Margaret and John. 

  “It was a really awesome gesture. We really appreciated it,” said Jenkins. “We cook a lot at the firehouse and sometimes the process of cooking gets interrupted by calls so it was nice to have a meal that was already prepared and ready to go.”

  After providing a meal for the firefighters on April 28, Margaret and John received a letter of thanks in return from the fire stations with a photo of the firefighters enjoying their dinner.

  “It made me happy. I felt like I had paid it forward,” said Margaret. “I was a little late in thanking a fire department, but at least I was able to do it.”