Community to rescue after no one attends boy's birthday party

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Tuesday, June 16, 2015
Community rallies to give 7-year-old memorable birthday
Community members rallied to give a 7-year-old boy in Monrovia a birthday to remember when no one showed up to his party.

MONROVIA, Calif. -- Community members rallied to give a 7-year-old boy in Monrovia, Calif., a birthday to remember when no one showed up to his party.

It all started with a message posted to the Monrovia Community Facebook group. Little Julio's mom, Viridiana Garcia, wrote that she was at her son's birthday party at the park - but no one showed up.

Dozens of people responded, some saying they were on their way to celebrate.

Someone even called the fire department. Firefighters showed up, posed for pictures with the birthday boy and let the kids play on the fire truck.

"I was 7 years old, I remember I always loved fire trucks and I said you know what, let's go make Julio's day better," said Acting Capt. Ernie Moreno with the Monrovia Fire Department.

"It was very overwhelming that everybody just showed up and the community just all came together," Garcia said.

Julio said this was his first time on a fire truck. This will definitely be a birthday he'll remember forever.