SHOP TILL YOU COP
Police officers trade in their squad cars for shopping carts Wednesday to join 120 kids on the annual Heroes and Helpers shopping spree at Target
This time of year, holiday shopping can be an absolute drudgery. But there was nothing but joy on the faces at the Target store on Coleman Avenue in San Jose on Wednesday morning where the
Shop With a Cop Foundation Silicon Valley held its 10th annual Heroes and Helpers shopping spree.
Law enforcement officers from 23 agencies in the Bay Area paired up with 120 elementary school kids — each wielding a $150 gift card — who roamed the aisles looking for toys, clothes, sports equipment and other gifts for themselves and their families.
Some of the young shoppers from Santee Elementary School earned the experience
through Shop With a Cop’s “Readers Are Leaders” literacy campaign. Others were invited to participate by the foundation because their families had suffered a traumatic experience in the past year.
Five-year-old Saul Garcia, Jr., and his 10-year-old sister, Arissa Garcia, were among the latter group. Their father, Saul Garcia, drowned in July while rescuing them and four other children in Coyote Creek in Morgan Hill. Their mother, Erica Valencia, joined them on Wednesday’s excursion, which began with a breakfast hosted by Santa Clara University at the Locatelli Center.
Saul Jr., a kindergartner, teamed up
with San Jose police Chief Eddie Garcia, who helped him pick out a batting tee, a scooter and other gifts. Arissa was accompanied by Probation Officer Jill Ornellas, who pushed their cart down crowded aisles as the girl picked out gifts for her family — and a few things for herself. Once the shopping was done, the kids took photos with Santa, got their faces painted and did other activities as volunteers wrapped the gifts. A team of mascots — Sammy the Spartan from San Jose State, Happy Hollow’s Danny the Dragon, Q from the San Jose Earthquakes and Target’s Bullseye — also greeted the kids and took photos with them.
“Every child we have here, they all have
a story,” said Shop With the Cop Executive Director Darrell Cortez, a retired San Jose police officer. “And this experience is a highlight for all the officers who come out every year.”
Between the law enforcement agencies, corporate sponsors like Google, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley and Target and the dedicated legion of volunteers who help everything run smoothly, Cortez says its an event the entire community can embrace. (You can find out more about the foundation and its events throughout the year at www.shopwithacopsv.com.)
“We want these kids to have their first experience with law enforcement be a positive one,” he said. “We’re trying to build bridges here, not walls.”
SHORT FILMS, BIG EVENTS >> The ninth annual San Jose International Short Film Festival kicks off Thursday night at Santana Row’s CineArts theatre, with more than 140 films playing out over four days there, at Campbell’s Starbright Theater and, for the first time, at the Winchester Mystery House, where three screening blocks will be held Sunday.
If you don’t have tickets to the opening night event, you’re out of luck. But tickets and passes are still available for the other three days of screenings at www. sjsff.com.
VETERANS’ VOICES >> Last
year, Opera San Jose formed a military veterans chorus in conjunction with its production of the World War I-set “Silent Night.” Well, the chorus turned out to be a great idea, so the veterans will again gather for a holiday concert Friday at the Trianon Theatre in downtown San Jose. Opera San Jose General Director Larry Hancock will lead the chorus in patriotic songs, spirituals and Christmas Carol singalongs.
Tickets for the 8 p.m. show are available for $20 at www.operasj.org, and all the proceeds will benefit the All the Way Home campaign to house homeless vets.