Woodstock Police, Firefighters Take Children Christmas Shopping

Press release from the Woodstock Police Department:

Dec. 14, 2022

On Saturday, December 10, 2022, the Woodstock Public Safety Foundation held its annual Shop with a Hero event. 159 children from the Woodstock community went shopping for Christmas presents with Woodstock police and fire personnel.

The event lasted approximately 3 hours and the Woodstock Public Safety Foundation funded approximately $23,000 in Christmas presents.

Shop with a Hero program is an annual event where Woodstock Police Officers and Firefighters volunteer to accompany children on a shopping trip for Christmas presents. Each December, Wal-Mart, 12182 Highway 92 in Woodstock, hosts this program which is primarily funded by generous donations to the Woodstock Public Safety Foundation’s Shop with a Hero program.

The History of Shop with a Hero:

The program started more than 20 years ago when a family in Woodstock wanted to donate money to the police department to assist in making a difference in the community. At the same time, former Officer Richie Rich learned of a local boy whose house was destroyed by fire. He used the donated funds to take the boy Christmas shopping. The boy only wanted to buy a jacket for each person in his family instead of toys. When other officers and firefighters learned of the boy’s desire to provide jackets to his family in lieu of toys, officers and firefighters put their money together to take the boy shopping for Christmas presents and toys.

Since then, Shop with a Hero Program has served over 1,900 children and continues to grow every year.

To learn more about the Shop with a Hero program or the Woodstock Public Safety Foundation, please visit www.woodstockga.gov/psfoundation

*A special thank you to Cherokee County E-9-1-1 and Woodstock High School’s Law and Justice students and Spanish Honor Society for their assistance.

This press release was produced by the Woodstock Police Department. The views expressed here are the author's own.