Man Camps Deals To Help Family Of Girl Mauled By Dogs
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- For 22 years one local has been camping out Thanksgiving Day for a cause.
Every year Joe Geary picks a different Twin Cities store to pitch a tent and wait for the best bargain deal. This year he isn't just shopping for himself at Best Buy, but for those in need.
Despite it being one of the coldest Thanksgivings on record, Geary said he is ready and waiting for the holiday deals.
"I make it like home," said Geary when describing his tent. "I've been doing it so long, sometimes I lose count myself."
With all that experience, he said he certainly comes prepared.
"I've had hot dogs in here; I use it for tea. Other people will bring stove-top stuff and we'll cook, and every now and then we'll have BBQ," Geary said.
Not your typical Thanksgiving dish, but for Geary it's never been about the meal, but rather how he can help.
Each year he picks a different reason to bundle up. This year he is camping out for a colleague at the Bureau of Indian Education who lost her granddaughter.
Jayla Rodriguez was killed on Nov. 18 while she was sledding near a housing complex on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. According to law enforcement officials, she was mauled by a group of stray dogs.
Photos of 8 year-old Rodriguez taken from her obituary page on the Sioux funeral home website show her love of life and animals.
According to her parents, she wanted to be a veterinarian and dreamed of one day creating a shelter for the dogs that roam the reservation.
"On the Indian reservations, we're all kind of one family," Geary said. "And we kind of band together."
He says his small gesture of giving will help spread the word.
"If we make it through this hump, there is light at the end of the tunnel," Geary said.
Rodriguez's funeral was held on Wednesday. Her death is still under investigation by the FBI and the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
The third grader's death has also brought attention to rising concerns about stray dogs on the reservation. Oglala Sioux officials have rounded up and killed dozens of stray dogs since the girl's death. The tribal council held a meeting earlier this week to discuss how to better control and capture the animals.
