BLAINE, Minn. – (Dec. 7, 2016) – On Tuesday afternoon, Blaine’s Super Target was full of students who were Christmas shopping with police officers and firefighters. The students were chosen by school social workers who thought the student and the family could use a brighter holiday season. Michelle Ross of the Blaine Police department said the afternoon of fun started right after school.
“The officers go and pick them up at their school and transport them here and they take a group photo and then they get to shop with 100 dollars donated by Target, Blaine festivals, we’ve had random people walk up and give hundreds of dollars just to donate right here an its all been spent,” Ross said.
Each of the kids has a different story.
“We have some students here that aren’t living with family right now they might be in a shelter or they’re living with a grandparent or they’ve had a death in the family, there’s a lot of different kids here with a lot of different home needs so it’s a great way for them to bond with a fire fighter or an officer,” Ross said.
They get to use 100 dollars to buy gifts for themselves and for their family. But, some of their lists are filled with items most people wouldn’t consider to be exciting Christmas gifts.
“We have set aside $750 which we’ve got probably up to 1,000 now with all the donations that we just randomly received for necessity items, there have been kids that showed with food on their list, boots, underwear, those kind of necessities and we don’t want them to take away from the list that they brought so we buy that for them,” Ross explained.
In years past, Officer Ross has seen kids buy Christmas trees for their family with their money.
“There are a lot of people that have fallen on hard times right here in our county,” she said.
How each of the kids got here is different, but all of them seemed to be enjoying a fun shopping experience, and knowing that they were able to provide some gifts for their family.
“It’s nice to watch these kids smile and know that they maybe have a different situation going on at home but right here, right now for two, three hours, they’re having a blast and I love that.”
