Saturday, December 7th, the Parachute Police Department was able to help make the Holidays brighter for families in our community. Our Annual Shop with a Hero Event began in 2018. In that first year, the Police Department took 3 kids shopping. Since then, we have grown exponentially! This year, we shopped with 15 kids! The day starts out at the Police Department, where everyone has the opportunity to enjoy breakfast together. It is during this time, that we match each child with a Hero and a Helper. Once that is all sorted out, we load up in police cars and fire vehicles, then head to Walmart to shop, shop, shop. The kids have so much fun shopping for their families and also building a bond with a Hero from our community. We are so grateful for all the heroes that step up and help out during this event. It truly is our favorite day of the year. After all that shopping, the kids all stop at Starbucks for a hot cocoa and a treat, on the house.
Now, it is time to head back to town and get all these goodies wrapped. The Grand Valley Fire Protection District graciously hosts our wrapping party at the upper Fire Station. The backdrop of the fire trucks is a special treat, as well as the holiday music. During the wrapping party, lunch arrives in the form of pizza. Pizza and wrapping, we have to keep that energy up to wrap all those presents. This is a fun time for the kids to just hang out and get to know the heroes as they also learn more about them. Once all that hard work is done, the kids families come to pick them up and the presents get loaded to take home. A positive experience for everyone.
This event wouldn't happen without the gracious donations from our community partners. Thank you to Alpine Bank, Kiwanis, Holy Cross, ME2 Firearms, and Parachute Auto Parts, plus private donations. We'd also like to thank everyone of our helpers and heroes: Town of Parachute, Grand River Health, Alpine Bank, US Army, Rifle Police Department, Garfield County Emergency Communications Authority, Garfield 16 Family Resource Center, Grand Valley Fire Protection District. Hope to see you all again next year! Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!