Shop With A Hero about giving back

From Barbies and Hot Wheels to bicycles and hoverboards, the Walmart Supercenter was taken over by first responders and excited kids Saturday morning for the Shop With a Hero event.

As part of the program, organized by Poplar Bluff Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #48, local kids in need are partnered with first responders to spend $125 on anything the kids want. Approximately 115 kids showed up and 40 first responders.

The volunteers were from the Butler County Sheriff’s Department, Missouri State Highway Patrol, Poplar Bluff police, VA police, Butler County EMS, Poplar Bluff Fire Department, the Missouri Department of Public Safety and the U.S. Forest Service.

The kids were able to pick out anything they wanted, with some heading to the clothing department, while most made their way straight to the toys.

Trooper Kyle Huggins with MSHP Troop E, said he’s participated in the event for four years now and it all comes back to the excitement of the kids involved.

“We do it for the kids,” he said. “We like to see the enjoyment of them getting stuff and helping them out during this holiday season.”

“I enjoy it, it’s a good time,” Huggins said. “I enjoy seeing the kids happy.”

Poplar Bluff police Sgt. Joe Ward has participated in the event since it started over 20 years ago. In that time, he said the day has grown with more kids attending.

“We’re able to take more kids,” he said.

Along with the event being something heartwarming heading into the holidays, Ward said it also helps with their day-to-day jobs. It helps the kids in the community be more comfortable with firefighters, and police officers in particular, he said.

“It’s good to know that we can help the kids out, and it builds a trust,” he said. “Whenever a kid sees a policeman, they know they can come to us if they need help. We try to discourage parents from saying, ‘you better be good or I’m going to have that policeman take you away from me.’ We don’t like parents to say stuff like that because we want the kid to be able to come to us and say something’s wrong.

“That’s one of the big things about doing this, you build a good rapport with the kids and you always want them to feel safe and willing to come talk to you.”

Arika Ballenger, with Butler County EMS, echoed Ward’s point of connecting with the community.

“I think that we spend the year taking care of the community with their physical needs,” she said. “I think this is just a great way to take care of something beyond that.”

Ballenger started with the program as soon as EMS was invited to join and said she has several memories with it.

For instance, a few years ago, she went shopping with a little boy who was excited to go shopping for his family.

“He wanted to spend his money going shopping for his brothers and sisters,” she said. “He bought one toy for himself. Having a 5-year-old picking out one toy and then wanting to get things for (others), it was very humbling.”

This year, Ballenger said her favorite shopper involved having to explain why spikes on a helmet are not safe.

“He asked for a helmet for safety and then proceeded to pick out one with spikes and a crossbones on it,” she said. “I think he’s going to be a rock star.”

Ballenger also went shopping with another boy who found a toy that involves dissecting an alien.

“You have the possibility of a gem,” she said. “He promised to give me a shout out on the news if he finds one.”

Michael Somers with the city fire department said one of the shoppers that stuck out to him from the day was one who wanted a mancala game to play with his grandmother.

Somers said he wasn’t familiar with the game and pointed out some that seemed more interesting, but the boy was insistent about which one he wanted.

Overall, for everyone involved with the program, the high point of the day is giving to these kids during the holidays.

“You see kids that need stuff and whenever they go around and see something they really want, the joy on their face (is amazing),” Ward said.