CopShop 2010

Today was a great day!  Why?  Well, I'll tell you why.  I participated in CopShop.  So, what's CopShop, you ask?  It's a bunch of police officer volunteers that get to go shopping with underprivileged kids from the community.  Here's how my day went:

It starts off with the kids arriving to the mall by limo bus.  Once they meet their police officer buddy for the day, they're treated to a pizza party lunch from Boston Pizza.  My little guy had four pieces!!  And he was a pretty small kid!  haha...He told me that pizza was his favourite food.  Awesome...we have something in common.  He also got a can of Coke that looked WAY too big for him.  haha.  All I could think of was, "Fuller, go easy on the Pepsi."  (Anyone?...Anyone?...okay it was a reference from Home Alone).

After lunch, they were able to get a photo with Santa and their police buddy.  I can just imagine the face I'm making...I'm pretty sure I blinked...haha.  So, after you get your photo taken, you're free to shop around the entire mall.  Each kid is given a $200 gift card to buy whatever they want!  Talk about every kid's dream come true!!

My new friend had a list of toys he wanted.  He also wanted some nice clothes and some gifts for his family.  Thank you Zellers and Old Navy for their awesome sales!  We were able to cross everything off that he wanted!  It was so awesome.  His giftcard was down to less than a dollar once we were finished.  Talk about great shopping while on a budget!!  A lot of the stores were giving us an extra discount which was really nice.  One jewelry store even gave every kid who walked in, a beautiful necklace with a pendant on it.  It was all wrapped up and everything.  Gift for mom, check!

Anyway, once the little shoppers are finished, they meet up for some snacks, and the final goodbyes.  All their parcels were to be delivered to their homes, later that evening. 

It was truly a great day.  Seeing the children's faces light up, is the best Christmas gift anyone could ever get.  After seeing the other kids around me, I couldn't help but smile.  One kid always wanted a bike, so with his giftcard, he was able to get one.  Another girl had always wanted to get her nails done, and once we were all together again, she couldn't stop showing them off.  

Some of these kids have it pretty rough at home.  Knowing that I was part of this very special day for them, is the most rewarding thing I've done in quite some time.  It's easy to get wrapped up in all the Christmas hustle and often we forget how lucky we are.  I hope and pray that everyone of those kids makes it through and is able to remember today and how much fun they had.

It was also quite refreshing to see how many groups came together to make this day possible. 

Now, back to my paperwork...  ;)  Happy Wednesday!