Kids shop with ‘Warren’s finest’

WARREN — The holidays are here, and this is the season for giving.  Organizers said that is what the “Shop with a Hero” and “Shop with a Warthog” events are all about.

For Shop with a Hero, active duty police officers take children in need Christmas shopping at various Meijer stores.  Similarly, Shop with a Warthog brings together active and retired police officers, court and jail officers, and firefighters who accompany children on a Christmas shopping trip at Walmart.  

The officers and firefighters volunteer their own time. 

Shop with a Hero has been going on for more than 20 years.

“Families are identified and selected by our chaplain corps,” said Detective Sgt. Greg Booton of the Warren Police Department.

According to Booton, 115 children will receive $100 gift cards at Meijer to select what they want, while their parents receive gas cards.  The first Shop with a Hero event this season was held at Meijer at 12 Mile and Mound roads on Nov. 29.  A second event took place at the Meijer store at 10 Mile and Schoenherr roads on Dec. 6. 

“This event takes the time to help the needy and give kids a great Christmas, who otherwise may not have received a Christmas gift,” said Commissioner Bill Dwyer of the Warren Police Department.    

Shop with a Warthog was held on Dec. 1 at Walmart on Van Dyke Avenue at 12 Mile Road and brought joy to many.         

“People don’t call the police when they are having a good day.  Officers go from bad situation to bad situation.  It is nice to do something like this,” Booton said.  “It makes the officers feel good and a little more humble, not to take things for granted.”   

The Fraternal Order of Police Christopher M. Wouters Lodge #124, in conjunction with the Warren Police Department, organized Shop with a Hero while the Southern Macomb Warthogs Chapter #44 brought Shop with a Warthog to the community.  Members of both organizations expressed gratitude for the generosity of their sponsors, without whom there would not be an event.

Call Staff Writer Gena Johnson at (586) 498-1069.