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'I wanted to give back': Mount Prospect girl sells Christmas luminarias and donates proceeds to fire department

A Mount Prospect neighborhood got some extra-bright holiday cheer Saturday evening courtesy of a girl with a charitable heart.

Pledging to donate the proceeds to the Mount Prospect Fire Department, 12-year-old Delaney Dixon sold sets of paper luminarias to dozens of her neighbors along South Kenilworth Avenue.

"Christmas is about giving back to people, so I wanted to give back to the people who help us every day," said Delaney, a seventh-grader at Lincoln Middle School.

The fire department, in turn, will give the money raised - about $1,000 - to its annual food and toy drive for local families, Chief John Dolan said.

It's the second consecutive year Delaney sold luminarias for charity. Last year's enterprise raised about $750 for the Mount Prospect Police Department, which donated the money to the 100 Club of Illinois, a nonprofit organization that assists first responders and their families.

Luminarias typically consist of small candles set in paper bags that are weighted with sand. They're usually placed along driveways or in front of homes as Christmas decorations.

Delaney requested $10 donations for each set of five luminarias. Some folks gave more, she said.

Delaney got 66 orders this year, more than double last year's total.

"It makes me feel good to help others," Delaney said. "I've always liked to help other people."

The paper bags were donated by a local Ace Hardware store, Delaney said, and the sand used to fill them was donated by Home Depot.

Delaney and her parents, Susan and Mike, set up the luminarias Saturday afternoon. Persistent winds kept them from successfully lighting the lanterns at first, but eventually Old Man Winter relented and the candles ignited.

The Dixons put glow sticks into some bags, too.

Dolan and a group of firefighters dropped by to thank Delaney for undertaking the project.

"I think it is a wonderful gesture on her part to recognize the work our firefighter-paramedics do for our community, especially in these harsh conditions," Dolan said. "Delaney's luminaria project literally sheds light on the sacrifice our first responders make over the holiday season."

Susan Dixon is understandably proud of her daughter's efforts.

"This was something she took on herself," Susan Dixon said. "I have a special young lady. I really, really do."

• Daily Herald photojournalist John Starks contributed to this report.

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  For the second year in a row, Delaney Dixon, 12, sold luminarias to her Mount Prospect neighbors and donated money to the fire department. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
  Mount Prospect Fire Chief John Dolan hugs Delaney Dixon, 12, in front of her Kenilworth Avenue home on Christmas Eve. She sold luminarias to her Mount Prospect neighbors and donated $1,000 to the fire department. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
  Delaney Dixon, 12, waves at Mount Prospect fire vehicles as they pull up to her home on Christmas Eve. She sold, set up and lit 300 bags with candles in her Mount Prospect neighborhood and donated money to the fire department. On Saturday, the fire department came to thank her. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
  For the second year in a row, Delaney Dixon, 12, sold luminarias to her Mount Prospect neighbors and, this year, donated money to the fire department. On Saturday, she and family and neighbors set them in front of homes on Kenilworth Avenue. Her father, Mike, lights some of the candles. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
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