Georgia Mom, Renee Mumford, lost two of her sons in a car accident, in 2016. While both of her sons died, every year Mumford honors the firefighters who tried to save them. She does so by giving her thanks, on Thanksgiving, with home-cooked and hand-delivered turkey dinners.
Firefighters from South Fulton Station 7 were the first to respond to a tragic accident that killed two of Renee Mumford's sons in 2016. https://t.co/Z7aY8tOgzo
— Atlanta News First (@ATLNewsFirst) November 26, 2021
Renee Mumford Just Cooks for Her Family
That’s how Mumford sees the firefighters of South Fulton Station 7, according to CBS46 — they’re her family. So spending days leading up to Thanksgiving to prepare meals for them is just what you do.
Renee Mumford and her family are preparing a special Thanksgiving lunch for South Fulton firefighters today. They’ve made enough food for nine stations!! I have the story tonight on @cbs46 #Thanksgiving pic.twitter.com/GEn6oHvXaB
— Savannah Louie (@savannahlouieTV) November 25, 2021
“We started Sunday,” Mumford told CBS. “We were up every night until 1 a.m. Last night it was until 4:30 a.m.” Her existing family, as well as her other son, Jerell, all pitch in. Jerell is also one of Station 7’s firefighters. He became a firefighter the year after his brothers died, after seeing their heroics.
“A lot of these guys are my brothers,” Jerell says. “Not biologically, but brother from another mother.”
“You have to understand, I became everyone’s mother,” Mumford says, and it’s impossible not to feel the weight of those words.
A Delivery of Love and Gratitude
On Thursday of last week, boxes packed with turkeys, desserts, and various side items, were all delivered to the station. A delivery of love and gratitude, because “that’s what Thanksgiving is about,” says Jerell. “The things you can’t put a price on.”
Mumford believes wholeheartedly in God and views this act as putting Him first.
“It’s difficult, but I will say to anybody and everybody, when you put God first, it helps us to move,” said Mumford. “We could not move without him.”
HEARTWARMING: After Renee Mumford's sons were killed in a car crash, she never forgot the firefighters who responded. This year, she spent the last five days cooking a big Thanksgiving dinner for all nine of the South Fulton's fire stations. https://t.co/eB2CRK25Ni
— FOX 5 Atlanta (@FOX5Atlanta) November 26, 2021
Such a tragic accident followed up with this kind of love, acceptance, and expansion of family, is truly what the holidays should inspire.
What do you think of this tradition Renee Mumford started? Is this something that you would like to do with your own family? Let us know in the comments below.