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December 10, 2009

Program supplying Christmas gifts for kids needs help

Jonathan Jackson

Each year, the Milledgeville Police Department takes kids shopping for Christmas gifts. The kids that go may or may not have any additional Christmas gifts and are identified as in need of Christmas gifts by the department. The department provides gifts for the kids based on donations and funds raised throughout the year from businesses, individuals, civic organizations and congregations.

The Holiday Gift Drive for Kids (HGDK), also known as Shop with a Cop, is headed by Lt. Reenae Gray who said that the program is in need of funding from community partners.

�We need money for the program,� she said. �Baldwin County has been hit especially hard this year by industry and state closings.�

Gray said a staggering number of children had been nominated to be able to shop with police officers for Christmas gifts, and not just from Baldwin County.

�We had 585 kids� names submitted,� Gray said. �We had applications coming in from surrounding counties that we had to turn away.�

Gray said the program is designed to help children within Baldwin County.

With economic conditions so dire, many children may not receive Christmas gifts at all if not for the program. That is why, Gray said, that the community should support the drive � to help keep as many kids as possible from waking up on Christmas morning and finding no presents to open.

�I would love to not have to turn away any child,� she said.

The amount spent on each child depends on the age of the child, plus the number of recipients and the amount of funds raised.

Once the program identifies children that will receive a shopping trip, the children are met at Walmart with representatives from the department store and from the Milledgeville Police Department for their shopping trips.

�We use Walmart because they support our drive,� Gray said. �So far some of our sponsors include Curves, SunTrust Bank, the JAG Probation Office, several local doctors and Exchange Bank, and of course Walmart, just to name a few.�

Gray said that children who aren�t selected to shop can also benefit from a toy drive held in conjunction with the shopping program. Toys are distributed to families who didn�t receive shopping trips.

To make a donation for HGDK, visit the downtown Milledgeville Police Department or the Milledgeville Mall precinct and write HGDK in the memo line on checks. To contact Gray for more information or to arrange for the pick-up of a donation, call (478) 288-0785.

�With so many people needing help, the holiday season is a great time to give back to the community,� she said.

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