Every year, I have the great pleasure of accompanying the Brandon Fire Department and the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office Brandon substation to the Oxford Meijer for Shop with a Hero.
For anyone who doesn’t know, the program gives local kids an opportunity to shop with a police officer or a firefighter for Christmas gifts, and it helps families who may have fallen on hard times this holiday season. Plus, kids get to pick out their own gifts, which is way more fun.
Have you ever seen a toy aisle in a store full of kids with money to spend? Lots of big smiles and full shopping carts.
But something that happens every year is that the kids are told the budget, and they factor in things for their families. They want to get a toy for a sibling, or a candle for their mom, or slippers for their dad, or a bone for the family dog. I follow the various groups around and get photos of them shopping, but I’ve also helped add up costs on my calculator and run things back to the shelf when the child decided to get something different.
I’m no stranger to that since I’m also a board member for Brandon Groveland Youth Assistance, and every year we partner with the Brandon Library and the Ortonville Eastern Stars on the summer Steps and Stories program. At the end of that program, the participants all get a new pair of shoes for school, and the kids get to pick them out.
Us volunteers go to the store and help 25 kids or so pick out shoes and socks. It’s generally a mess, but the store employees are incredibly helpful and kind about it. They even open a lane for us specifically to check out.
But the same thing happens: these little kids ask us if they get a cheap pair of shoes, then could they use the extra money to get shoes for their little sibling?
The answer is always of course, but it’s amazing to see them think that way. They’re generous and they want to make sure that their family is taken care of as well, even if it means having something less expensive or less gifts for themselves.
It amazes me that little kids can embody the holiday spirit so young, and that they want to give to others before themselves. I thoroughly enjoy spending my evening going up and down toy aisles with a bunch of kids, cops and firefighters. I get to see the holiday through their eyes.
We could all probably learn a lesson from them about what the holiday season is all about. And they don’t even know they’re teaching a lesson, they’re just being themselves.