Lisa Nichols

Lisa is a mother of seven children and unfortunately fighting ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease. Prestige Miracles Foundation wa able to provide Christmas gifts to her seven children. We additionally gave funds to support ALS research.

Santa made a surprise early visit to a Greenwood Village home on the evening of Dec. 22 bringing presents to the three youngest children of Lisa and Dave Nichols. Santa happened to drop in while Leeann Iacino, Scott Matthias, Holly Payne and Susie Roy, all from Prestige Real Estate Group, had come to the Nichols home to deliver a check in the amount of $1,000. Also, Jodi Brooks, a reporter from NEWS 4, was there to capture and translate all of these exciting moments into a news story that aired later that evening.

This all began when Susie Roy, broker associate at Prestige Real Estate Group, submitted a request to Prestige Real Estate Group’s nonprofit organization, Miles for Miracles, for her friend, Lisa Nichols and family. “I knew that the Nichols family could use a little help this holiday season, and I also knew that MFM was an organization that provides incredible support for families with sick children or a sick parent,” Roy said. Lisa Nichols, a 48-year-old mother of seven children, was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, commonly known as Lou Gehrigs disease, in March 2004. ALS is a fatal neuromuscular disease that destroys the ability of the brain to communicate with the muscles. Eventually, all muscles, including those that control vital functions such as speech, swallowing and respiration, become paralyzed. “Since the time of Lisa’s diagnosis, the needs of this already large family have increased,” Roy said. Roy made what she felt was a bold request to Miles for Miracles for $500 to help the Nichols family out this Christmas. Both Roy and the Nichols family were in for an even bigger surprise. “The following morning, I received a call from Leeann Iacino, president of Prestige Real Estate Group and director of grant requests for Miles of Miracles. Leeann said that my request had been unanimously approved. I ran into the office and picked up the check without even looking at it. As I was traveling down I-25, the check fell out of my visor, onto my lap and I was holding a check in the amount of $1,000. Tears rolled down my face,” Roy said. “I am absolutely honored to work for a company that understands the importance of giving back to their com- munity. I truly believe in the concept of community service and charity, and it brings me great pride to know that I have aligned with a company that embraces the same understanding.

The outpouring of love and support that this family continues to receive overwhelms me.” “We were honored to help the Nichols family this holiday season. They are an incredibly joy- ful and loving family,” Iacino said. Lisa and her family receive daily reminders of support as they each learn to live with this dev- astating disease that affects them everyday with constant change. Lisa said, “I have learned to live day by day. You never know what tomorrow will bring”. Her neighbors and friends continue to bring five homemade meals each week into their home. “Cooking was something that I always enjoyed doing for my family and brought me great joy, but the disease has caused me tremendous fatigue and has taken from me the use of my legs, my left arm and has also affected my breathing and swallowing. We are blessed to live in this com- munity; they do so much. I really don’t know what we would do without everyone,” said Lisa. Life has changed dramatically for Lisa since she was diagnosed with ALS, but it hasn’t changed her ability to love and care for her children; all done now from a wheelchair. “They (her children) are loved and will always be,” Lisa told Brooks during her interview for NEWS 4. “This (the donation) is really amazing. I had already accepted that this would just be a very simple Christmas for our family.” When Santa delivered the early cheer to the young Nichols’children — Ellie, Joe and Peter — the presents happened to be exactly what they had mentioned in their letter to Santa, which they had mailed last week. Joe Nichols, 9, screamed with excitement as he opened Santa’s gift, a Nerf Rocket Launcher, as his younger brother, Peter, 7, watched. “Now I know you are the real Santa! I believe you really are,” Peter exclaimed to Santa. Santa assured the Nichols children that he loved them very much and he would be back on Christmas Eve. He told the young Nichols that Mrs. Claus had been a big help this year getting the reindeer team in shape and polishing the sleigh, and so when he was going by the Cherry Creek Vil- lage neighborhood, he decided to pop in for a quick visit.