Local store makes good on empty promise

When a furniture store in Reno went out of business -- taking with it $750 donated to a cancer-stricken Carson City boy -- JM Furniture in Carson City came to the rescue.

"I am so overwhelmed and in awe, it makes my heart smile," said Kelly Barnes, mother of Daniel Morrison, 3, who suffers from an inoperable brain tumor. "I still can't believe it."

Barnes' plight began when she received money from an organization in Tennessee to purchase Daniel some "big boy" furniture. He was sleeping in a toddler bed on the mattress used in his crib.

After searching around, Barnes settled on a bedroom set from a franchise store in Reno.

Because of Daniel's tumor, he has trouble with his right side, so Barnes was careful to select a set of bunk beds that were low enough to the ground for her son to get in.

Barnes also bought bedding and curtains for Daniel's room.

After her final payment and the the family moved into a new home, she was ready for the furniture to be delivered.

"I had been fighting with these people to get it delivered and it had been like three months that I was making payments on it, but every time I called after making my final payment, no one would answer the phone," she said. "So, one day I went into Reno to the store and there was sign stating it was bankrupt."

Barnes is a single mother living in government-subsidized housing because she can't work in order to take care of her son. Unable to tell her son he wasn't getting new furniture, she decided she would do whatever she could to get Daniel the new bed.

It was then that she went to JM Furniture, a store which has been in Carson City for 33 years. There she found a similar bunk set low enough for Daniel.

As she was preparing to put the furniture on layaway, she mentioned what had happened.

"The more I talked to her the more she started telling me what happened at the (Reno store)," said Jerry Ott, general manager. "Chain stores have a tendency to give the home stores a bad name. I was sorry for what happened to her.

"So we just decided it was the thing to do, and donated all the furniture to Daniel."

The furniture includes a set of bunk beds, two mattresses and a chest of drawers. Ott made a phone call to Reno Furniture and that store donated a chest . The furniture was delivered last weekend and set up.

"Its just one of those good things to do and we're happy to do it," Ott said.

YOU CAN HELP:

To help with Daniel's medical care tax-deductible donations can be sent to Angel Kiss Foundation in the name of Daniel Morrison, 150 Ridge St., Suite 3 , Reno NV 89501. For information about Angel Kiss call (888) 589-KISS (5477).