Bemidji First Responders Take Local Kids Xmas Shopping for ‘Heroes and Helpers’

Shop With a Cop is a nationwide effort that brings children on a paid Christmas shopping spree with local police officers. Bemidji area law enforcement has been participating in a similar event for 10 years, but instead of just cops, their Heroes and Helpers day pairs kids with all different branches of emergency responders.

Since 2016, Bemidji area law enforcement, the Bemidji Lions, and First City Lions have made an annual effort to give local kids a Christmas shopping spree with their day of Heroes and Helpers. This year’s event was held Wednesday at the Bemidji Walmart.

“[The kids] are nervous; they don’t know what’s going on,” said Bemidji Fire Department Paid-On Call Assistant Chief Ben Hein. “We go out there with them and the badges are a little intimidating, and it’s just fun to give them that peace of mind, to take some of that fear away because people are, you know, they get scared of the badge and they don’t know.”

“It’s important for those relationships to form and to develop,” stated Bemidji Lions President Bob Sandbo. “And it’s also fun to see the young people be able to buy gifts for their families and enjoy this festive season in a way they may not be able to do otherwise.”

This year, there were 44 kids who were chosen to be the helpers, and each of them had a budget of $125 to spend.

“I work with the school district to pick kids, so they’re from all over our community,” explained Tabitha Karrigan, a Bemidji police officer and the organizer of Heroes and Helpers. “Just seeing them get excited about how much money they get to spend, no restrictions, that joy on their face knowing that they can pick whatever they want off the shelf—it’s great.”

“It warms my heart and I get to be an active participant in it and I feel very blessed to be able to be a part of this every year,” said Hein. “And I’m so grateful for the people that open their wallets and their hearts and their time to come out and do this with us.”

The kids have free reign to buy things for themselves as well as for their parents, siblings, or anyone else in their lives that they want to buy Christmas presents for. And along with spreading holiday cheer, Heroes and Helpers also wants to spread information and form connections between the kids and first responders.

“Sometimes when you’re dealing with emergency services, you’re seeing them in crisis situations, and those are scary for kids,” said Carrigan. “And we need them to trust us and know that that we’re just people too, and that you can have a great time.”

“We’re dads and brothers and sisters and moms, too,” Hein added. “So, we’re just regular people. And we just happen to have a badge.”

Along with representatives from the Bemidji area, this year is the first time that law enforcement and students from Blackduck have also been included in the annual shopping spree.