Police, Firefighters Give Santa a Hand
They arrived empty-handed, but the 40 Inglewood students whom police and firefighters treated to a Christmas shopping spree at Kmart on Friday went home with arms full of toys, including remote-control airplanes, electronic cars and bicycles.
The event was part of the Inglewood Police Department’s fourth annual “Shop With a Cop†event in which police officers and firefighters each pair up with a disadvantaged child and take them on an early morning shopping trip.
Kmart chipped in $20 per child while police and firefighters picked up the rest of the tab.
That worked out to about $140 per child, allowing the youngsters to buy almost anything they wanted.
Firefighters decorated a fire truck to look like Santa’s home on the North Pole, complete with a reindeer and sleigh.
The students, who are picked for the program by the Inglewood Unified School District, got a chance to meet Santa Claus before heading down the store aisles in search of the toys they wanted.
“It’s been a tough year, but the officers rallied to support these kids because they want these kids to have a great Christmas,†said Linda Kalaydjian, a spokeswoman for the Inglewood Police Department.
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