Shop With A Hero Returns To Bartow County

CARTERSVILLE, GA -- Law enforcement agencies are preparing for a huge turnout for the 10th annual Bartow County Shop With A Hero program, which will be held Saturday, Dec. 16.

This year's installment will serve about 300 local children and their families. The program starts at 8:30 a.m. at the Clarence Brown Conference Center at 5450 Highway 20 in Cartersville. Registration at the event includes a ticket to win door prizes and two grand prize bicycles -- one for a girl and one for a boy.

After registration, the guests are served breakfast in the Conference Center's main hall. Santa and Mrs. Claus will be on hand to mingle, take photos and spread joy to the kids. Also on hand are several hundred heroes from local and state law enforcement agencies, emergency medical technicians and paramedics, firefighters, military personnel, teachers and nurses.

"From the start it is clear that this morning is all about the children of Shop With A Hero," the sheriff's office said.

Following breakfast and door prize drawings, the children and their families are loaded onto Bartow County and Cartersville City school buses and provided an escort to Walmart. Once there, the guest shoppers are paired with a hero and then the fun begins. Each child in the program is allotted $150. One hundred dollars must be spent on clothing items for the child and the remaining fifty can be spent as the child pleases. Many children choose to use the fifty dollars to purchase gifts for siblings and/or loved ones.

The Cartersville Walmart provides special checkout lines and employees just for the event to assist in price checks, directions and checkout. This year, the Bartow County Sheriff's Office will also provide free child seat safety inspections in the parking lot. Deputies will be checking car seats for safety and providing tips and guidance to keep kids safe while riding in vehicles (no citations are issued at this inspection).

All money for this program is raised throughout the year through community donations and fundraisers.

Image via Bartow County Sheriff's Office