HURRICANE – It’s that time of year again when police officers, firefighters, deputies, rangers and lots of other public safety personnel get to play Santa Claus to more than 100 needy area children during the annual Shop with a Cop event.
“We are hosting 45 children from the Hurricane Valley area this year,” said Hurricane Police Sgt. Brandon Buell, one of many Hurricane police officers planning to help out during Saturday’s early shopping spree with the kids. “No matter how many times we are able to participate in this program, it’s always a humbling experience. It’s an amazing program and wouldn’t be possible without all of our sponsors.”
Children will enjoy a hot buffet breakfast that morning donated by Ted and Allen’s Sports Grill on State Street before piling into public safety vehicles for an exciting lights-and-sirens ride to the Hurricane Wal-Mart.
“Our associates look forward to this event all year,” said Rick Heyrend, Hurricane Walmart general manager. “This is all about the kids. We have people come in on their day off to be a part of this. We enjoy giving back and being part of our community.”
Washington County Sheriff’s Lt. Rob Tersigni said another 60-plus children from the western side of the county are slated to enjoy the same holiday shopping spree on Saturday at Wal-Mart’s in Washington and Bloomington.
“We are just excited to do this,” said Tersigni. “It’s a real joy for us to help out these needy kids and be a part of this program.”
Donations for the day’s events in Hurricane come from Hurricane City, Hurricane Wal-Mart 4678, Wal-Mart Distribution and Wal-Mart Trucking 6029, along with Ted and Allen’s Sports Grill, the KONY Coins for Kids, Hurricane High School cheerleaders and royalty, the Hurricane City Police Department and Hurricane City Fire Department and numerous individuals.
Children ages 4 through 12 are selected for participation through the KONY Coins for Kids program. Officers from nearly every law enforcement and public safety agency in Washington County have volunteered their time to pair up with a child for the annual before-Christmas shopping event. Each child receives $100 to spend on gifts.
Agencies providing Santa’s Helpers for this event are:
Hurricane City Police Department
Washington County Sheriff’s Office
Utah State Parks
Utah Highway Patrol
Immigrations and Customs
Zion National Park
Hurricane Valley Fire Department
LaVerkin Police Department
Washington County Gang and Drug Task Force
Drivers License Division of Utah
Copyright 2011 St. George News. This material may not be published or rewritten without written consent.
so um…why exactly is sgpd too good this year? even the dld is helping out….wtf?
It was heartwarming to see so many members of law enforcement turn out to shop with these kids yesterday. One newspaper ran images of paramedics loading gifts on to a stretcher as they wheeled it through the store. The child in the photo looked thrilled…and so did the paramedics!
I think they should modify the event and have only the lead car run it sirens, I didn’t know this event takes place and seeing I-15 and Telegraph loaded with law enforcement all running sirens really presents itself as something different, even scary. So glad the kids got to take part in the event…I just don’t think an emergency signal such as a siren should be used in such a overwhelming display. Thank you law enforcement for your participation, but you really should look at the whole picture. After all I’m pretty sure in the end law enforcement wants you to still react to a siren.