Movie mogul Tyler Perry wants to give one Atlanta grandmother an exceptional Christmas present this year.
The filmmaker has promised to rebuild 88-year-old Rosa Lee Ransby's home after it was destroyed by a fire she and her four-year-old great-granddaughter escaped from last Tuesday, WSBTV reported.
"It's just good, you know. I didn't think I had no friends, but I found I got some," Ransby, a great-grandmother of seven, told the local television news station.
Ransby had lost most of her possessions when a fire engulfed her home of 40 years. According to WSBTV, county fire fighters have received dozens of calls since they began soliciting donations to help the great-grandmother out.
But the most generous donation came in from Perry, the multi-millionaire behind "Why Did I Get Married?" and "Tyler Perry's House of Payne."
After Perry saw coverage of the devastating fire on television, the Atlanta-raised entertainer visited Ransby's home Thursday and promised to rent her a house on the same street for a year, pay for utilities, buy her furniture and build her a brand new place to live on the same property.
Firefighters were nearly speechless over Perry's offer.
"It's made my Christmas," Coweta Country Fire Chief Todd Moore told WSBTV. "I've been doing this a long time, seen a lot of bad things come and go but this is special."
Perry has been in the Christmas spirit all week. In a letter he published on his website Thursday, the famous do-gooder wrote about taking orphans shopping at Target and encouraged his fans to be thankful for what they have.
"They [the orphans] came to the checkout with their red Target baskets looking like overloaded Santa sleighs. Boy that did my heart good!…It made me remember to be thankful for the little things. I hope it does the same for you," Perry wrote.
Perry also explained that a thief was caught sneaking onto his property later that night. Nothing was stolen, but he vowed to do everything he could to help the police find the two other men allegedly involved.
"CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT? I was so mad!" Perry said, adding, "There were many times I could have done the wrong thing--gotten easy money. But because I chose to do the right thing, God honored that and blessed me."
