5th Annual 2001
For the 5th consecutive year, just a few days prior to the Christmas holiday, several hundred very special people get together and go shopping for new clothing and toys. This special group consists of deserving children from all over Indiana – and Indiana State Police officers from every state police post in the state. The 2001 event took place on Saturday, December 15th at 35 selected Indiana Wal-Mart locations.
As in previous years, all elementary schools in the state are invited to participate in the program. One family is chosen from each Indiana County and invited to shop with uniformed officers from the Indiana State Police, Conservation officers and Excise Police officers. Guidelines given to the schools for the selection of families includes those who are not looking for a “hand-out” – just a “hand-up” this year. Among this year’s participating families were those experiencing the loss of homes due to fire, family illness, excessive medical bills, foster parents and single parents. Each family was given a $200 Wal-Mart Gift Card with at least one-half designated for clothing and the remaining for toys, games, books, etc. Many of the Wal-Mart locations provided extras for the families including free lunch in the snack bar following the shopping venture, food baskets, family portraits, holiday dinner packages and visits with Santa.
A special visitor to the Indianapolis location was Pat Bartram’s mother, Sherry Walker. Sherry reported having a wonderful time sharing in the holiday excitement of the program named in the memory of her son, Patrick.