Shop With a Hero makes day special for more than 80 local kids
A program that pairs kids with public safety professionals for Christmas shopping and fellowship saw more than ever from both groups partner up this year.
The Ellijay Police Foundation’s 2022 Shop With a Hero made Saturday, Dec. 10, a day to remember for 82 Gilmer County third, fourth and fifth graders.
“We do third to fifth grade in the three elementary schools, and we also offer it to the Christian school if any of (their kids) have a need,” said Ellijay Police Capt. Ray Grace, a Shop With a Hero coordinator.
In addition to the chaperoned shopping trip for kids in those age groups, the program also provided Christmas outreach to Clear Creek Middle School and Gilmer High School.
“We did 10 secret Santas for students at the middle school and delivered about 400 bags of food to the high school for their food pantry. We also delivered 20 complete Christmas dinners to the high school (for students and their families),” said Grace.
After a visit and storytime with Santa, enjoying breakfast and doing some Christmas cookie decorating — all at Ellijay Elementary School — the kids jumped aboard a school bus, which was escorted by a caravan of police and fire vehicles to the East Ellijay Walmart. The Shop With a Hero “parade” has become a fun tradition of the program, now in its fourth year, noted Grace.
“When we got to Walmart, New Hope Baptist Church had Christmas carolers there to sing. Once we got the kids off the bus, we teamed them up with a hero,” he added.
Each child received a preloaded $175 gift card, and, due to the program being tax-free, they were able to spend it all, noted Grace. Of that, $75 had to go toward clothing purchases, while the rest could be spent on whatever they wanted, he added. Stuffed backpacks donated by Cartecay Baptist Church were also given out to participating children that day.
“We ask for 75 (kids) at first, 25 from each school. Then some of the officers or firefighters will say ‘Hey, I’ve got another kid,’ so we added seven more kids this year,” Grace said. “Our goal is to spend the day with the kids — get to know them, have fun and make it special for them. It’s all about them.”
Participating public safety agencies included the Gilmer Sheriff’s Office, Ellijay and East Ellijay Police and Gilmer and Ellijay Fire, as well as representatives from the Georgia and Federal Bureaus of Investigation (GBI/FBI), Georgia State Patrol, Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Georgia National Guard, Homeland Security and AirLife medical transport.
“We had the most heroes participate this year than we’ve ever had. Some of them drove over an hour from their own communities to come help us,” said Renea Green, a GBI special agent and Shop With a Hero coordinator.
“Overall, I think everybody had a good time. It’s stressful sometimes getting it all together, but when you see all those smiling faces in Walmart, it makes it all worthwhile.”
Green described the program as not only a “hand up” to local students, but also an opportunity to shine a little light on kids who just might need a little more this year.
“It could be a kid who’s recently lost a parent, or whose parents recently got divorced. It could be a kid who’s been bullied or who’s been struggling in a particular subject and is starting to do better,” she said. “We could not have as much success with (this as we do) without the school counselors. They know the kids who would really benefit from this.”
Shane Bowman, East Ellijay’s assistant police chief, said he’s participated in Shop With a Hero all four years it’s been held. For him and other public safety representatives, the opportunity to make a positive impression on their partners for the day is a gift in itself.
“We’re responsible for them (after they get off the bus). Once we get done and check out, we bring the kids back to mom and dad,” said Bowman. “It’s just a great experience, watching these kids. They get so excited. They want to know everything, like what kind of car do you drive, what kind of gun do you have and what all the things you wear on your belt are for. We just talk to them, and they realize that police officers aren’t the bad guy.”
This year, participating city and county police officers got to hand out personalized trading cards, which were designed by a recent class in the Gilmer Chamber’s community leadership program. Instead of professional athletes, the trading cards each feature a different local police officer.
“The cards were a big hit,” said Bowman. “Once they found out we had them, they were running around to the different officers asking, ‘Have you got a card? Have you got a card?’”
Green said several Gilmer High School clubs helped Shop with a Hero to be a success this year. That included the GHS culinary team baking more than 200 sugar cookies for kids to decorate and members of the Student Government Association assisting with event day proceedings.
“Each year, we try to find ways to get more of our community members involved,” said Green.
Shop With a Hero is funded by donations from local businesses, groups and individuals. Collecting those donations year-round helps the program to be on good footing come December. Next year’s Shop With a Hero effort is already partially funded, Grace noted.
“A lot of our donations come from local businesses, but that doesn’t get us to 100 percent, so we also (ask for) donations from individuals throughout the year. Anyone who wants to make a donation can do so through the Ellijay Police Foundation,” he added.