GALLERY: Holiday wishes come true during Cops and Kids

A number of holiday wishes were granted at Walmart on Saturday as the annual Cops and Kids initiative returned in feel-good fashion.

Nearly two dozen children between the ages of five and 12 were selected by the Children’s Aid Society of Algoma to be paired up with local officers for a fun morning of shopping and wrapping just in time for the holidays.

Participating agencies this year included the Batchewana First Nation Police Service, Corrections (Algoma Treatment and Remand Centre), Sault Ste. Marie Police Association (SSMPA), and Senior Officers Association.

While each child was technically given a $100 spending limit, Cst. Josh Teresinski, president of the SSMPA, said this year’s generous donations ensured every child could purchase what they wanted.

“We had an increase of donations from the agencies this year which was awesome; we really appreciated that,” he said. “One hundred dollars doesn’t get you much anymore, so because of the added donations, we were able to get the kids a lot more.”

“If there was any extra money they needed, the officers were paying out of their own pockets,” he added. “If they were over 30 or 40 bucks, officers were just tapping their cards.”

After they were finished shopping for toys, the kids enjoyed a tasty pancake breakfast before wrapping up their gifts with some help from the officers.

“Walmart donates all the wrapping paper, stickers, and tape,” Teresinski said. “They also provided us with the (wrapping) room and with the pancake breakfast which was great.”

While the event has been running for decades, Teresinski says he’s always blown away by the generosity of the little ones.

“There were so many kids shopping for their brothers and sisters, parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles – it’s always a cool thing to see that,” he said. “We tell them to get everything they want for themselves, but it’s crazy to see how many kids shop for their family.”