Shop with a First Responder
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The 3rd annual Shop with a First Responder was a huge success! Several firetrucks and law enforcement cruisers hurriedly arrived at Walmart on Saturday, December 20. There was no emergency taking place, only a large group of excited children.
Families met at the church for a breakfast of Hardees biscuits before traveling to Walmart to pick out gifts for themselves and their families.
The goal in the inaugural year was to raise enough money for 15 kids, but the expectation has grown exponentially in a short span of time. The community was blessed to serve 48 children in person on Saturday and 66 throughout the past week, with a few more still shopping in the coming days.
Each year, pastors and first responders are blown away by the selfless nature of children buying gifts not only for themselves, but for their families.
The Shop With a Cop program takes place nationwide during the holiday season. The Baxley program has grown so big so quickly that it now includes firefighters, EMTs, game wardens, and correctional officers.
The local event is inspired by the book of Matthew chapter 25, which reads, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me… ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
New clothes, stuffed animals, and action figures filled most of the shopping carts. However, many of the big kids sprung for electronics like prepaid cell phones.
Christ Community extends a special thank you to local first responders and the amazing community for helping make this event possible.
