BPD’s Shop with a Badge brightens the holidays for disadvantaged
Members of Brookhaven Police Department pose with some of last year’s recipients of the Shop with a Badge initiative. (Left to Right: Officers T. Flynn, S. Miller, and A. Serrano)
Target gift grant grows fourfold this year
Brookhaven, GA, Dec. 12, 2019, -- The Christmas spirit is sure to hit a bulls-eye on Sat., Dec. 14 when Brookhaven Police Department (BPD) officers “buddy-up” with underserved youth for a shopping spree at Target, 2400 North Druid Hills Road for the annual BPD Shop with a Badge initiative.
This event is bigger and better this year thanks to the generosity of Target’s Corporate Responsibility team, who upped their annual grant for the effort from $2,500 as in past years to a whopping $10,000 this year.
This is the sixth consecutive year for Shop with a Badge, a program created by the BPD that helps local children to purchase holiday gifts for themselves and their families. During the in-store shopping event, the children are paired with police officers and other public safety professionals who will help in picking out holiday gifts for the kids’ families. The 75 participating children were referred to the program with assistance of the Mercy Care/Chamblee agency who ensured the children were from disadvantaged Brookhaven homes and performing well in school.
Shop with a Badge is one of BPD Chief Gary Yandura’s favorite events. “We take every step to make this event an annual tradition the kids will always remember,” said Yandura. “The holiday season, for me, starts with two major events: Light Up Brookhaven and Shop with a Badge when we can see firsthand the childrens’ joy and satisfaction.”
One additional objective of the event is to help promote positive interactions between youth and public safety officials from their neighborhoods. The Target monies are given as part of the company’s Heros & Helpers program. Over the past 10 years, Target teams across the U.S. have hosted 2,300+ similar events welcoming over 100,000 underserved kids to shop alongside 60,000 public safety partners. Target has awarded more than $5 million in grants to support these shopping events and, since 1946, has given five percent of annual profits to local communities nationwide.
“Thanks to the Target grant money plus the approximately $10,000 raised at this year’s BPD Hot Pursuit and Glow Run race, we are able to allocate $200 in gift cards to each of the 75 children participating,” said BPD Officer Carlos Nino. ““We would like to have more youngsters every year and rely on surrounding agencies to assist us to pair with more children.” Nino noted that any funds left over after the event would be utilized to help the Brookhaven community in other ways.
In the month prior to the event, each child is asked to submit a list of gift ideas that follows three main criteria: 1) Something that the child needs; 2) Something that the child wants; and 3) Something that they can share together with their family. The lists provide guidelines for officers to have in hand when shopping with each youngster and not just grab the first thing that comes along.
“One of the things that I personally enjoy the most and find the most heartwarming is the thought that some of the kids put into their selections,” added Nino. “A lot of times it is geared toward things the entire family needs and can benefit from more than the individual child.” Nino listed such items from past years such as one child’s desire for a bedspread, while another wanted shoes for his uncle. “One little boy just wanted a Christmas tree because he had never had one before,” Nino recalled. “It’s a great feeling to help their holiday dreams come true.”
