While on a choir trip to South Texas, 17-year-old Emily Dickerson, from Council Bluffs, Iowa, was enjoying a sunny day at McGee Beach in Corpus Christi, when she lost a special ring that contained her late father’s ashes. She didn't want to risk losing the ring in the surf, so she tucked it away in a Subway sandwich box, but when the beach day ended, the teen realized she’d left the ring behind.
Their charter bus couldn’t take her back to the beach to search for the ring, so Emily’s mother reached out to the Corpus Christi Parks and Recreation Department for help. Parks operation supervisor Laura Perez got the message and despite soaring temperatures, she and her team started digging through a 4-ton dumpster in search of the ring.
After three sweltering hours, the team located the cherished ring in the last of multiple trash bags they searched. And when they learned that Emily had actually lost three more rings in the sandwich box, the hardworking Parks and Rec crew returned to the bin and uncovered the rest. Emily and her mom were beyond grateful for the help in recovering the rings and impressed that the crew would go to such lengths to help. “I was in disbelief,” the teen says, “I was so shocked that they were so capable."
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