An employee at the Sam’s Club in Matteson created some holiday magic after she revived a Christmas giving event held there nine years ago.
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Sharvonna Sims, who works as a member services manager at the local store, was thinking about a Shop with a Cop event, in which children from the community shop with local officers in the store for Christmas gifts or other items.
With the blessing of store manager Chico Montenegro, Sims reached out to the Matteson Police Department and Sam’s Club employees and officers worked to bring the event back this year.
Matteson School District 159’s liaison police officer Mike Erickson said the previous Shop with a Cop event was organized at the corporate level and the Matteson store hadn’t been chosen as a host again since then.
“But this was done at the local level,” he said.
Erickson acquired a $2,800 grant from Sam’s Club and the village of Matteson granted his request for a $200 donation to help make Christmas special for 15 children this year.
The children were each given $200 gift cards and shopped last weekend with police officers at the Sam’s Club in Matteson.
“It was amazing,” Erickson said. “There were a lot of people with tears in their eyes.”
He had selected three students from each of the district’s five schools mostly based on discussions with social workers.
“Some of their stories were unbelievable,” Erickson said.
He said one child’s mother had died just three weeks earlier and she had been uprooted from Indiana to live with relatives in Matteson.
Erickson said there was also a child whose mom was battling cancer and children who were living in hotels who were selected.
“Some of the kids didn’t even have the basics like food and some had shoes with holes in them,” he said.
Erickson said he didn’t want the children to mostly buy groceries with the $200 gift cards, so he reached out to his church, Second Place Church in Monee, and members agreed to donate an additional $50 to each of the kids for food and essentials.
With the $200 card, he said kids bought everything from toys to video game systems and other entertainment items.
Erickson said the girl who lost her mom bought a Christmas present for her aunt and uncle, rather than filling her basket with items for herself.
He said some of the kids’ purchases went over their spending limit, but some police officers and employees pitched in to make up the difference.
“It just kind of made me feel real good,” Erickson said.
He said it was important for the children to shop with police officers who were wearing their uniforms.
“I wanted the kids to see the police officers in a positive light,” Erickson said.
The event was attended by several school district and city officials, including Matteson Village President Sheila Chalmers-Currin.
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“It meant the world to the children of the district,” said School District 159 Superintendent Mable Alfred. “Just to see the expression on the children’s faces was priceless. … This is what the season is all about.”
Frank Vaisvilas is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.