Kids, cops tackle Christmas shopping together

• Kiehn

Cameron Kiehn carefully picked out purple nail polish for a family member during his time shopping with local law enforcement. Osakis Police Chief Chad Gulbranson helped Cameron with his Christmas shopping.
• Heinrich

Spenser Heinrich, 10, of Alexandria knew exactly what he was shopping for when he took his turn to do some shopping with Douglas County Deputy Sheriff Aaron Stern.
• Silvestre

DNR Conservation Officer Shane Osborne, Kadin Silvestre, 10, and his sister, Cierra, 13, shopped together Tuesday and waited for the grand total at the checkout. The kids did some shopping for their mom, picked out greeting cards and picked up a few other fun Christmas items.

Talk about it

Local kids took part in the annual “Shop with a Cop” event Tuesday night at Walmart in Alexandria.

The kids were matched up with law enforcement from Alexandria Police Department, Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, Osakis Police Department and Minnesota Department of Natural Resources to do some shopping.

Each child received a $50 gift card to spend any way they wanted. They carefully picked out gifts for family members and even picked out a treat for themselves.

After their items were rung up at the checkout, many kids were delighted to find out they still had a few bucks left to spend; the kids grabbed candy bars to toss in the bag and round out their purchase.

After shopping, kids reunited with their parents to have Subway sandwiches with the officers. Walmart donates the gift cards for the Shop with a Cop program.

Tags: local news, news, shopping, christmas, children