Iowa Woman Gets Help from Tiktok for Father’s Gift

An Iowa woman, Alli Marois, 23, was overwhelmed with the response when she posted a video on TikTok asking for help for a project. Her father, Bill Collins, had recently retired from the Des Moines Fire Department in September after 38 years. She wanted to make a special birthday gift for his 61st birthday coming up in August and turned to TikTok to make it happen.

In her video that she posted in February, she explained that she wanted to make a quilt from shirts featuring logos of fire stations all across the U.S. She said “ He really is passionate about being a firefighter. That’s the one thing that he’s loved. If someone was born to do something, my dad was born to be a firefighter. My dad is one of my number one supporters and he … he is really one of the best men in my life and I wouldn’t trade him for anything.”

Marois said throughout her childhood, whenever her family traveled, her father would get a T-shirt from the local fire department. Since he hasn’t had the chance to visit all 50 states, she realized a quilt would be a great gift. She had written letters to fire departments but had not received shirts from all 50 states before turning to TikTok with her plea. “So firefighters of TikTok, I’m asking you for your help to please send me a shirt from your state,” Marois said in her video. “I would love all of you to be a part of this journey.”

Marois has since received T-shirts from all 50 states and more. She has 100 shirts and counting, including a few from overseas fire departments in Iraq and Afghanistan. Along with the shirts, Alli Marois has received handwritten letters from firefighters and from widows of firefighters who died on 9/11. She said “As soon as all of these shirts started to come in, I got very emotional because people are helping someone they don’t even know. They’ve never met me, they’ve never even talked to me.”

She posted a video update, that she is now in the process of cutting the shirts to make the quilt. She added that she will post a reveal video when the quilt is finished and presented to her father. Marois has received a lot of attention online, which meant she couldn’t keep the entire project a secret from Collins. She said some aspects are still a mystery, he hasn’t seen all the shirts so he won’t know what it’s going to look like and he has not read the letters. Marois says it has been a “heartwarming” and “very humbling experience.”