Dec. 20—HENDERSON — The 2023 Shop With a Cop and Friends event at Walmart on Tuesday featured everything the holiday season is about: generosity and joy, family and community coming together to give back and celebrate.

With some $20,000 in donations, members of the Henderson Police Department and the Vance County Sheriff’s office — along with many others from offices and organizations across the county — shopped for 54 kids and eight seniors.

“It was extremely heartwarming to see the children’s reactions and humbling to hear many of their reasons for the items they selected,” said Henderson Police Chief Marcus Barrow.

Barrow also offered special thanks to Walmart and its team for being so accommodating and supportive of the event.

In addition to police officers, the sheriff and deputies, others on hand for the event included those from the Henderson-Vance Chamber of Commerce, Vance County Department of Social Services, the District Attorney’s Office, Henderson Fire Department, North Carolina State Highway Patrol, Vance County Animal Services, N.C. Division of Parks and Recreation, S.a.M. Child Advocacy Center, Henderson Vance Recreation and Parks, the Henderson City Council and city manager, Maria Parham Health, and the new county manager.

“The Shop With a Cop and Friends fundraiser is one of my favorite partnerships,” said Sandra Wilkerson, president of the Henderson-Vance Chamber of Commerce.

The Chamber leads the effort in raising money by selling raffle tickets and soliciting sponsors. This year, they went a step further to include a fun and festive celebratory reception raising even more money by having a 50/50 raffle at that event.

“Chief Barrow and Sheriff Brame and their staff work hard selling raffle tickets as well,” Wilkerson continued. “The reward for our efforts is participating in the shopping experience for the kids. The interaction with the public safety personnel is the absolute best. With everything bad in this world, this is a day of good. Thank a first responder today!”

Tanya Wilson from the Chamber shared her thoughts as well — starting with a story of a child telling an officer that first he wanted to get his little sister a gift.

“I followed several kids around the store and they all wanted bicycles,” Wilson said. “I saw a little boy pushing his cart with a bag of apples, oranges and a box of crackers, and he said he would like a pair of tennis shoes. Another little girl grabbed my hand and wanted to show me a cute game that she picked out. So precious.”

Wilson said she overheard several kids say they wanted to get gifts for their brother or sister — with one saying they wanted a house.

“It was the most humbling experience for me,” Wilson said. “The kids were so happy. Some were very cautious with what they chose, but the smiles lit up the store. The grinch snuck around stealing from their carts — very cute.” With tear-filled eyes for most of the time, Wilson said, “It definitely was a great experience.”