The Byrnes Mill Shop with a Hero program provided more than 100 local children in need with Christmas gifts to brighten their holiday season, Byrnes Mill Police Chief Frank T. Selvaggio said.
For this year’s event, Byrnes Mill Police officers and other first responders accompanied the children on a shopping spree at the Walmart store in High Ridge.
During the previous two years, the first responders did not take the children shopping because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and instead the children received Walmart gift certificates, Selvaggio said.
“It was really nice getting back to actually having the first responders shop with the kids,” he said. “Just to be there with (the children), to get to meet them and be a part of this event, it’s kind of magical in a lot of ways – the connections made between these first responders and the kids when they’re shopping together.”
First responders from 10 emergency response agencies went shopping with the 104 children on Dec. 7, when each child got to spend $100 on toys and other items.
“What’s funny is some kids bring a list,” Selvaggio said. “They already know exactly what they want, and it’s kind of funny to watch them pick out exactly what they want.”
Selvaggio said nearly 50 first responders shopped with the children.
He said the first responders enjoy the event as much as the children do.
“(My passion for this event) has to do with some of these families I’ve gotten to know over the four years being here,” Selvaggio said. “When they come up to you and give you a genuine hug and say, ‘Thank you,’ you can genuinely see in their eyes that you made a difference in their lives.”
Each of the children’s families, about 35 families in all, received food items as well, Selvaggio said.
“We also present the families with a very large basket of items to make a holiday meal at home, (with items like) a large ham, vegetables, potatoes, stuffing, desserts (and) things they can actually make on a night when they can all get together,” he said.
“What we’re hoping comes out of that is their family can all be together and have a nice meal, and, at least for one evening, the parents not to have to worry about providing and can enjoy their children.”
Selvaggio said the community stepped up to help the first responders raise about $12,500 for this year’s event.
“I think people realize the only way we’re going to come together as human beings is to help each other,” Selvaggio said. “They realize that their families are going to have a good Christmas, and they want to share that joy with some other families.”
Selvaggio said several people already have donated toward next year’s event.
He said another act of graciousness came from some of the children themselves.
“They wanted to buy gifts for their brothers and sisters, and they wanted to buy a gift for Mom,” Selvaggio said. “Some of them wanted to buy clothing items because they didn’t have winter clothes.”
He said he was especially touched by those moments since he is approaching the tail end of his career.
“It’s giving me some closure at the end of my career that this profession can still help the community and still be a part of the community,” Selvaggio said. “We’re still able to do our law enforcement job, but we can also do our community caretaking job, which I think is critical for the survival of law enforcement in this country.”
In addition to the Byrnes Mill Police Department, the first responder agencies that participated in the 2022 Shop with a Hero program included the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the High Ridge Fire Protection District, the Jefferson County Ambulance District, the Big River Ambulance District, Northwest Towing and Jeffco 911 Dispatch.
Three local churches – Spring Hill Presbyterian Church in Byrnes Mill, The Point of Refuge in Byrnes Mill and SpiritWord Church in House Springs – also helped with the program.
Selvaggio said Byrnes Mill Police Department administrative assistant Julie Davis was a big help with this year’s program, as were local school resource officers who aided in the selection of children to take shopping.
“We do not particularly work with school districts, (but) we do take calls from the school resource officers at schools,” Selvaggio said. “The kids we select, we ask that they live in the 63049 or 63051 ZIP codes, which are the areas directly impacted by the first responders involved.”
The Byrnes Mill Police Department asks families in need to send them messages through Facebook if they have children who could benefit from the program, Selvaggio said.
To donate to next year’s program, checks may be made out to Spring Hills Presbyterian Church and sent to the Byrnes Mill Police Department at 141 Osage Executive Cir., Byrnes Mill, 63051.
For more information, visit the Byrnes Mill Police Department Facebook page.