First responders bring holiday joy to local children

by Emily Canning-Dean 

Thanks to the generosity of Brecksville’s first responders and the community as a whole, 51 local children spent a recent Saturday picking out Christmas presents and enjoying a pizza party during Brecksville’s Shop with a First Responder event. 

Back in November, the Brecksville police and fire associations began selling raffle tickets to raise money for the event. The fundraiser, along with private donations allowed the two departments to provide $150 Target gift cards to 51 children in the community. 

“It was really nice to see such great participation from everybody in the city,” said Officer Mark Kryzynowek who serves as Brecksville’s School Resource Officer. “We had a TV that was donated as a raffle prize plus two cash prizes. We sold the raffle tickets at the police department and we also had them at the community center. We put something on the city’s Facebook page around the beginning of November.” 

Kryzynowek said the Brecksville-Broadview Heights school district helped to identify kids in pre-kindergarten through fifth grade who would benefit from the program. 

“We knew the counselors and teachers would have a better idea of the kids’ backgrounds,” he said. “So they were very helpful in finding kids who needed to have their holidays brightened.” 

Kryzynowek said some youngsters were selected due to an economic need while others were chosen because they were going through a difficult experience such as a loved one fighting cancer. 

Each child was paired up with either a first responder or a teacher. Kids and their partners met at the community center the morning of Dec. 7 and then rode in a caravan of police cruisers, fire department vehicles and school buses to Target in Parma where they had an opportunity to shop for themselves and family members. 

“We encouraged them to make a list,” Kryzynowek said. “Some kids wanted to get stuff for their moms, dads and siblings and then buy something for themselves with whatever was left over and some wanted to spend it completely on themselves, but it was completely up to them how they spent their gift cards.” 

After the shopping trip, the group returned to the community center where everyone enjoyed a pizza lunch courtesy of East of Chicago. 

The Brecksville Police Association has participated in a Shop with a Cop program for many years, but this year, they decided to have an independent event and join forces with the Brecksville Fire Association. 

“We formerly partnered with the George Murray FOP Lodge and that was a great partnership,” Police Chief Stan Korinek said. “But this year we wanted to partner with our fire department.”

Kryzynowek said the two Brecksville safety associations plan to join forces again next year. 

“We had great cooperation from the fire department and also from the schools,” he said. “It was great to have all of them on board and putting in such a big effort.” 

“This is an event we always look forward to,” Korinek said. “We are so honored and privileged and happy to be a part of this each year and we will do anything we can to keep this going.” Kryzynowek said that anyone interested in donating to help fund next year’s event can contact the police department. He also said community members can look for raffle tickets to go on sale in early November next year. 

photo caption: More than 50 local children participated in the inaugural Shop with a First Responder event.

Photos submitted.