WPD, Meijer, Burger King Team Up To Let Kids ‘Shop With A Hero’
December 12, 2023 at 9:47 p.m.
Officers from the Warsaw Police Department participating in the annual Shop with a Hero have had a bit of a competition going for the past five years.
School Resource Officer and Shop with a Hero coordinator Cpl. Roy Navarro explained, “We have this nutcracker, and whoever comes closest to the (spending) limit will win it for the year. It’s a revolving trophy.”
Last year, officer Brandon Zartman had it. In 2021, Capt. Joel Beam had it; with officer Jeff Ticknor taking it home in 2020; and officers Jordan Roberts and Wayne Wilkie earning it in 2019 and 2018, respectively.
“They get to write their name on it, and they just bring it back the next year and we’ll see who gets it,” Navarro said. “It’s kind of a badge of honor, just a nutcracker here with a pretzel.”
Warsaw Police Department School Resource Officer Cpl. Roy Navarro displays the traveling trophy that the officer who comes closest to his spending allotment for Shop with a Hero can win. Photo by David Slone, Times-UnionThe annual Shop with a Hero starts with dinner at Burger King and includes a visit from Santa Claus. That is followed by officers and their families taking the children shopping at Meijer for toys, clothes, gloves and even shoes. Each kid is allotted a certain amount of dollars, which was $130 this year.
Navarro has been participating in and coordinating Shop with a Hero for going on eight years, he said at Burger King. Before him, Doug Light coordinated the event for a while, but Navarro didn’t know exactly how many years the program has been going on.
Navarro said, “I think for us, just being able to enjoy the Christmas holiday spirit and just know that we’re here to not only serve, protect but just have a good time just like anyone would. We love kids and that’s what we’re here for, to make sure they have a good time.”
Eleven children got to hang out with the WPD officers this year.
“For the most part, SROs, we work a lot with the schools every day all day, and we start to talk to the teachers, talk to the principals to see what kids are in need,” Navarro explained on how the Warsaw Community Schools students are selected to take part. “That’s kind of our biggest deciding factor, just talking to our partners there at the schools to see who is in need.”
The Fraternal Order of Police will do their Shop with a Cop on Thursday and are expected to have 100 to 150 kids. With a smaller group, WPD can eat a meal with the kids first at Burger King.
“The FOP is huge and they have a great, great time over there doing the shopping, but for us we’ll come here, we’ll eat and since we’re a little smaller we can do that,” Navarro said.
Money for the program comes from donations. The big one, he said, is Meijer and then other people in the community.
“They’ll be at Meijer. They see this going on and they’ll buy a Meijer (gift) card, and say, ‘Here you go,’” Navarro said. But a lot of times, it’s companies like Burger King that donates the meals.
Navarro has his own kids, but he enjoys the interaction with the kids that get to take part in Shop with a Hero.
Warsaw Police Department School Resource Officer Sgt. Lewis Fuller helps a kid find the right size of boot during Tuesday’s Shop with a Hero at Meijer Tuesday. Photo by David Slone, Times-Union“So, just being an SRO has been a big, big job and I think, for us, is that we see the most important thing is these kids are the future of the community and if we can just kind of help them this one night and show them that we’re here to help them, I think it builds a great relationship with them. It speaks volumes when a kid sees you in the hallway and they’re coming up and saying, ‘Hey, Officer Navarro,’ ‘Officer (Phil) Reed, good to see you, glad you’re here.’ Because a lot of times they’re not happy to see us. ... But this is one of my favorite things to do, to see the smiles on their faces. It’s always fun to do,” Navarro said.
Cindi Clawson, Burger King marketing manager, said Burger King has been participating with Shop with a Hero for at least 10 years. She said they provide all the meals for the kids and the officers that participate.
“We’re happy to provide that for them,” she said. “Our company, Quality Dining, has always been just very charitable. We love to raise money for the schools. We do the big fundraiser for the Catholic schools, that will be coming up. We provide scholarships for kids. We do a lot of fundraising and charitable work, and so this is a program that we really enjoy being part of and being able to help and just being able to provide some joy for kids in the community that may otherwise not have the best Christmas.”
Clawson said she loves events like Shop with a Hero.
“I love doing these. I literally love it,” she said. “... It’s just so much fun to see the joy on the kids’ faces.”
A Warsaw student strikes a pose while trying on a dress at Meijer with School Resource Officer Sgt. Lewis Fuller and his wife, Lauren, during Shop with a Hero Tuesday. Photo by David Slone, Times-UnionWPD SRO Sgt. Lewis Fuller was taking part in Shop with a Hero for his fourth year Tuesday, with his wife Lauren assisting. It’s also his fourth year being in the schools and doing DARE.
“It’s fun to see the excitement that the kids have from Burger King to here. They’re just so excited. And being in a police car, it was her best day ever. Just seeing the excitement the kids have,” he said about what he enjoys about doing Shop with a Hero.
On being in the schools as an SRO, Fuller said, “It’s just fun as you get to develop a relationship with the kids, especially being in DARE. And they get to see you as a person, not just a cop, so they see that a lot. It’s fun to get to know them.”
Seeing the same kids go from grade sixth to seventh to eighth, Fuller said he gets to see a little bit of the kids’ personalities, who they are, where they’re from and their extracurricular activities.
“So that’s really fun. It’s a good side of it,” he stated.
Warsaw Police Department officer Jordan Roberts keeps track of how much money he’s spending for the student he is shopping for during Tuesday’s Shop with a Hero at Meijer. Photo by David Slone, Times-Union
Warsaw Police Department officers enjoy a meal at Burger King during the Shop with a Hero event Tuesday. Photo by David Slone, Times-Union
Warsaw Police Department officers pose with the kids they were shopping with during Tuesday’s Shop with a Hero at Meijer. Photo by David Slone, Times-Union
Officers from the Warsaw Police Department participating in the annual Shop with a Hero have had a bit of a competition going for the past five years.
School Resource Officer and Shop with a Hero coordinator Cpl. Roy Navarro explained, “We have this nutcracker, and whoever comes closest to the (spending) limit will win it for the year. It’s a revolving trophy.”
Last year, officer Brandon Zartman had it. In 2021, Capt. Joel Beam had it; with officer Jeff Ticknor taking it home in 2020; and officers Jordan Roberts and Wayne Wilkie earning it in 2019 and 2018, respectively.
“They get to write their name on it, and they just bring it back the next year and we’ll see who gets it,” Navarro said. “It’s kind of a badge of honor, just a nutcracker here with a pretzel.”
Warsaw Police Department School Resource Officer Cpl. Roy Navarro displays the traveling trophy that the officer who comes closest to his spending allotment for Shop with a Hero can win. Photo by David Slone, Times-UnionThe annual Shop with a Hero starts with dinner at Burger King and includes a visit from Santa Claus. That is followed by officers and their families taking the children shopping at Meijer for toys, clothes, gloves and even shoes. Each kid is allotted a certain amount of dollars, which was $130 this year.
Navarro has been participating in and coordinating Shop with a Hero for going on eight years, he said at Burger King. Before him, Doug Light coordinated the event for a while, but Navarro didn’t know exactly how many years the program has been going on.
Navarro said, “I think for us, just being able to enjoy the Christmas holiday spirit and just know that we’re here to not only serve, protect but just have a good time just like anyone would. We love kids and that’s what we’re here for, to make sure they have a good time.”
Eleven children got to hang out with the WPD officers this year.
“For the most part, SROs, we work a lot with the schools every day all day, and we start to talk to the teachers, talk to the principals to see what kids are in need,” Navarro explained on how the Warsaw Community Schools students are selected to take part. “That’s kind of our biggest deciding factor, just talking to our partners there at the schools to see who is in need.”
The Fraternal Order of Police will do their Shop with a Cop on Thursday and are expected to have 100 to 150 kids. With a smaller group, WPD can eat a meal with the kids first at Burger King.
“The FOP is huge and they have a great, great time over there doing the shopping, but for us we’ll come here, we’ll eat and since we’re a little smaller we can do that,” Navarro said.
Money for the program comes from donations. The big one, he said, is Meijer and then other people in the community.
“They’ll be at Meijer. They see this going on and they’ll buy a Meijer (gift) card, and say, ‘Here you go,’” Navarro said. But a lot of times, it’s companies like Burger King that donates the meals.
Navarro has his own kids, but he enjoys the interaction with the kids that get to take part in Shop with a Hero.
Warsaw Police Department School Resource Officer Sgt. Lewis Fuller helps a kid find the right size of boot during Tuesday’s Shop with a Hero at Meijer Tuesday. Photo by David Slone, Times-Union“So, just being an SRO has been a big, big job and I think, for us, is that we see the most important thing is these kids are the future of the community and if we can just kind of help them this one night and show them that we’re here to help them, I think it builds a great relationship with them. It speaks volumes when a kid sees you in the hallway and they’re coming up and saying, ‘Hey, Officer Navarro,’ ‘Officer (Phil) Reed, good to see you, glad you’re here.’ Because a lot of times they’re not happy to see us. ... But this is one of my favorite things to do, to see the smiles on their faces. It’s always fun to do,” Navarro said.
Cindi Clawson, Burger King marketing manager, said Burger King has been participating with Shop with a Hero for at least 10 years. She said they provide all the meals for the kids and the officers that participate.
“We’re happy to provide that for them,” she said. “Our company, Quality Dining, has always been just very charitable. We love to raise money for the schools. We do the big fundraiser for the Catholic schools, that will be coming up. We provide scholarships for kids. We do a lot of fundraising and charitable work, and so this is a program that we really enjoy being part of and being able to help and just being able to provide some joy for kids in the community that may otherwise not have the best Christmas.”
Clawson said she loves events like Shop with a Hero.
“I love doing these. I literally love it,” she said. “... It’s just so much fun to see the joy on the kids’ faces.”
A Warsaw student strikes a pose while trying on a dress at Meijer with School Resource Officer Sgt. Lewis Fuller and his wife, Lauren, during Shop with a Hero Tuesday. Photo by David Slone, Times-UnionWPD SRO Sgt. Lewis Fuller was taking part in Shop with a Hero for his fourth year Tuesday, with his wife Lauren assisting. It’s also his fourth year being in the schools and doing DARE.
“It’s fun to see the excitement that the kids have from Burger King to here. They’re just so excited. And being in a police car, it was her best day ever. Just seeing the excitement the kids have,” he said about what he enjoys about doing Shop with a Hero.
On being in the schools as an SRO, Fuller said, “It’s just fun as you get to develop a relationship with the kids, especially being in DARE. And they get to see you as a person, not just a cop, so they see that a lot. It’s fun to get to know them.”
Seeing the same kids go from grade sixth to seventh to eighth, Fuller said he gets to see a little bit of the kids’ personalities, who they are, where they’re from and their extracurricular activities.
“So that’s really fun. It’s a good side of it,” he stated.
Warsaw Police Department officer Jordan Roberts keeps track of how much money he’s spending for the student he is shopping for during Tuesday’s Shop with a Hero at Meijer. Photo by David Slone, Times-Union Warsaw Police Department officers enjoy a meal at Burger King during the Shop with a Hero event Tuesday. Photo by David Slone, Times-Union Warsaw Police Department officers pose with the kids they were shopping with during Tuesday’s Shop with a Hero at Meijer. Photo by David Slone, Times-Union