'Shop With First Responder' Holiday Event Held In Wauwatosa

WAUWATOSA, WI—On Saturday, five families from The Ability Center were paired up with officers/reserve officers and firefighters from the Wauwatosa Police Department and Wauwatosa Fire Department for "Shop with a First Responder" holiday event.

"It was a very special event for us and we had such a great time meeting the kids and their families," the police department said on Facebook.

Damian Buchman, CEO of The Ability Center, nonprofit organization in universal, inclusive, and adaptive sports and recreation opportunities, said receiving the call from the police department was the best holiday gift he could have received.

"When I picked up the phone and Officer Kane began to introduce himself, it turns out his son, a Junior at Brookfield East High School, volunteered for us at our adaptive sports Open Gyms and couldn't stop raving about his experiences," Buchman said.

At The Ability Center's programs, everybody plays together, disability is not required.

"I felt it extremely important that just like our Open Gyms, siblings would be included, because when a family has any kind of special need, they're all in it together," he told Patch.

Buchman chose the families based on their level of organizational participation. These were the kids who work the hardest and give back the most, they deserved to be recognized for their personal and community efforts, he said.

Each child got $300 to spend on whatever they wanted.

Buchman said the kids and their families were taken off guard.

"The best part of the event though was watching the siblings work together to purchase larger items, or buy presents for older siblings," he said.

The event offered an opportunity for the police officers, fire fighters, and community to learn more about the mission of The Ability Center, than it did about kids with disabilities.

"But to shop together, organically, made them more aware that these are just kids who simply wear a different pair of shoes," Buchman said.

Police also thanked Dick’s Sporting Goods and Central Private Police for making the event possible.