Dunwoody PD's Christmas For Kids Helps Those in Need

Thursday night, the gift of a bicycle turned a quiet, timid 14-year-old into a gracious and overjoyed teen.

The boy was given the bike during the Dunwoody Police Department’s Christmas for Kids gift giving event, which helps to give less fortunate children in Dunwoody donated Christmas gifts.

Thursday night Sgt. Fidel Espinoza noticed a very nice ten-speed bike had been donated.

With 77 children at the event, police weren’t sure how to decide who to give it to, so they left it to Santa Claus.

“He picked this 14-year-old, a young guy. He very shy, too cool to deal with Santa and all the hoopla,” Espinoza said. “Santa called him and brought him a little closer and whispered in his ear that they wanted to give him this bike.”

The reaction was immediate.

“His jaw just dropped,” Espinoza said. “He couldn’t believe he’d just gotten this bike. Immediately he started hugging Santa Claus, I thought he might suffocate him. He was pretty excited.”

Espinoza said he talked to the boy later who said he’d never owned a bike.

For Espinoza and others in the department, these are the reasons for the program – making a difference in the lives of the city’s less fortunate.

The Christmas for Kids program, now in its third year, will distribute donated toys to more than 200 children in the community this year.

“When we first started this thing, the whole idea was to bring the community together,” Espinoza said. “A lot of people, when they hear Dunwoody they don’t know that there are people in the community that are less fortunate. It opened a lot of people’s eyes, especially those who come out and actually see them and hear from them.”

For the last few months, the department has collected toys through donation boxes at local businesses, as well as contributions from individuals and organizations in the community.

For Lt. Oliver Fladrich, watching the community outpouring of support is one of the best parts of the event.

“This is something that is echoed every year that we’ve done this,” Fladrich said. “There are so many people working behind the scenes. To me the most fulfilling thing is nobody stands there and demands any credit. When it’s all happening at the Christmas event, the biggest thank you you can imagine is to see the smiles on the little kids faces. That’s the greatest thing.”

Espinoza said he feels a great sense of community through the event.

“We at the department and the officers, we appreciate them just for what they are doing and what they did for these kids,” Espinoza said about the donors. “Just my overwhelming thanks for everyone who donated and volunteered. It’s big deal.”

This year, the department had more donations than it had in its first two years.

“Turnout was better than expected,” Espinoza said.

Monday, the police department was dropping off toys at shelters and organizations that serve Dunwoody families.

At last Thursday night’s gift giving event, Espinoza said there was a woman who’d heard about the program through her neighborhood.

“I could tell she was a bit reluctant, a bit shy,” Espinoza said about when he first met her. “When I told her we would have gifts for her children, she broke down. She could barely get the words thank you out”.”

Thursday night, there was a relief about her.

“You could tell the pressure lifted off of her shoulders,” Espinoza said.

Moments like those, he said, make the event special to him and he wishes he could share that with those who support Christmas for Kids.

“I wish there was a way for everyone who donated – the businesses, the organizations – to see these things happen and unfold,” he said. “To see that their time and efforts and donations make a world of difference to the families they are supporting.”