CHRISTMAS KIDS… The children and first responders who participated in the shop with a first responder event stop to take a group picture after coming into Walmart. (PHOTO PROVIDED)
By: Jacob Kessler
Children in need from across Fulton County were able to come to the Wauseon Fire Department on Saturday, December 11th. Numerous Police and Fire Departments from around the county participated in the event that helped bring smiles to 52 children and their families.
This year the program was done a little differently due to the lingering COVID issues. Normally, there is a breakfast that is held for the children before they head out to the store.
This year however, the children were given meal tickets in order to still give them a meal. Fortunately, the shop with a first responder aspect of the event was able to stay the same.
Police cars and fire trucks lined up at 9:00 a.m. in front of the Wauseon Police and Fire Department to greet the families as they arrived. Children were split into groups and assigned a fire truck or police car to ride in.
At around 9:30 p.m. all the vehicles turned on their lights and sirens and paraded the children down the streets to Walmart where they were able to buy their gifts. $110 were given to each child from money that had been donated for the program throughout this past year.
Smiles were seen everywhere as the first responders walked through the toy isles with each child who were able to pick out what they wanted for Christmas.
It was a great experience for everyone involved including the Walmart employees who greeted the children as they came in.
The program is normally done every year to help provide gifts to the children in the county that need them. The hope is, that once the issues with COVID subside, the event will be able to be fully back to normal.
Even so, this year the event was still a success with a good turnout. More importantly, a lot of Christmas spirit and joy was spread to those that need it.
Jacob can be reached at jacob@thevillagereporter.com