FREE ACCESS: PBPD accepting donations for Shop with a Hero

A Poplar Bluff policeman helps a child pick out toys during Shopping with Heroes.

DAR file photos/Paul Davis

Donations are still being accepted for annual Shop with a Hero event in Poplar Bluff Saturday, Dec. 16, to help make the holiday brighter for area youngsters.

“Shop with a Hero is the day we get kids together whose families can’t normally afford Christmas,” said Poplar Bluff Police Detective Shonna Grobe. “We get them paired with emergency medical services personnel, fire department personnel or police. We let them go shopping at their leisure, with one of the personnel in uniform. It’s generally a good day for everybody in uniform as well as the kids.”

The Poplar Bluff Project Christmas Promise takes the youth kindergarten through sixth grade from all of the schools in Butler County including the Neelyville School District, Twin Rivers school district, and Poplar Bluff.

“They put them all together in one big pot and determine which ones go to which programs like we have,” Grobe said. “We have a lot of church organizations that help out and they make sure no child is left without.”

“We always do at a minimum of 100,” Grobe. “Some years, we’ve been very fortunate with our donations. Donations come from groups and people we’ve never heard from before. Our max has been about 150. Actually, those were some of our very, very good years.”

Anyone may donate cash or checks. If people want to use a check, it should be made payable to the Poplar Bluff Fraternal Order of Police.

Donations may be made by mailing them to 911 Shelby Road or dropping them off at the police department.

“I can go by their business if they let us know,” Grobe said. “They can get on our Facebook page, drop us a message. They can also call us at the police department, and we’d be happy to go by and get it. Lots of donations are dropped off to the front desk. The front desk clerks get them to my attention.”

Most of the time, Grobe said, “You think about kids wanting to shop for themselves, but we have kids that want to buy some soups for the household, some cake mixes and stuff so they can make cookies and cakes. We’ve also had a couple times kids in the household put their money together to buy a microwave because the household didn’t have a microwave. We also have kids that want to buy clothes, coats, boots, stuff like that you most generally think about kids at that age group wanting to buy toys. We have kids that want to think about others. They want to buy presents for their siblings.”