DuPage kids get chance to 'Shop With a Cop' Dec. 7

Santa has looked at his daunting schedule for the next few weeks and decided he needs some help.

On Saturday morning, Dec. 7, the DuPage County Sheriff's Office and participating agencies will answer his call.

After a filling breakfast, a parade of sheriff's vehicles and squads from throughout the suburbs will arrive at the Meijer store in Bloomingdale as part of the DuPage County Fraternal Order of Police and the Sheriff's Office annual "Shop with the Cop" event.

Sheriff's deputies and area police officers will treat children to breakfast and a photo opportunity with Santa at Glen Ellyn Park District's Ackerman Sports and Fitness Center in Glen Ellyn. The children will then ride with a deputy or officer in a lights and sirens parade to Meijer.

The caravan of emergency vehicles will leave the Sports Center at 9 a.m. They will head west on St. Charles Road and then north on Gary Avenue to the Bloomingdale Meijer at the corner of Schick Road and Gary Avenue.

Each child will be paired with an officer and given $125, donated from the FOP, to spend on family members and themselves. The deputies and police officers, along with many other volunteers, will then help the children wrap their gifts.

Participating children were selected by the sponsoring law enforcement agencies and each township in DuPage County.