Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station deputies delivered gifts to the kids who lost their mother, Katie Evans, to a DUI crash in early October.

Deputies stood outside, as Jacob Evans readied his kids to greet their surprise gift bearers.

“I was just really surprised,” said Travis Evans, Katie’s 11-year-old child. “I knew someone was coming over; I didn’t know who it was. I didn’t know that they would bring quite this much.”

The Evans family opened the door to two deputies with bagfuls of presents. The toys inside came from the station’s 15th annual toy drive, which generates dozens of gifts for seven to nine nonprofits each year, according to Fanny Lapkin, community relations deputy and coordinator for the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Annual Toy Drive.

“We just wanted to come here out here tonight to the Evans family just to let them know we’re thinking about them during this time of the year,” said Deputy Brian Heischuber, who carried presents into the house. “It just brings warmth to your heart, it makes you feel good about coming out and doing something nice for this family.”

Used to the sight of law enforcement patrolling the streets, the kids saw the deputies in a different light Thursday night.

“I really was happy, because I really didn’t get to talk with police officers much,” Travis said. “They don’t usually come into your home and talk to you and high five you.”

“It’s just nice to see the kids happy,” said Heischuber. “It looks like they were joyful to see the cops, to see the cop cars.”

Jacob Evans explained how the community outreach is helping his family overcome their loss.

“It’s helped us a lot, because obviously this is a very difficult situation for the kids, and it’s given us a lot of positive things to point to for the kids, so they don’t focus on the negative things,” said Evans.

“Katie was a firm believer that there was lots of good in the world,” he continued. “She would be thrilled to see so much good come out of this tragedy.”

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