Fire Department Sets Dates For "Shop With A Hero" Fundraisers

Thursday, October 20th, 2022

"It’s honestly just indescribable," said Dalton Fire Chief Todd Pangle, describing the annual "Shop With A Hero" event in which area first responders take children in need shopping for Christmas gifts. "It’s an experience that I’m glad that I get to have."

The Dalton Fire Department will be raising money for the annual "Shop With A Hero" event on three Saturdays in November. Firefighters will be joined with officers for the Dalton Police Department at the "boot drives" in front of the Walmart on Shugart Road from 9:00 am until 1:00 pm on November 5th, 12th, and 19th. The money collected by the first responders will be used in December when Dalton officers and firefighters are paired up with children selected by staff from Dalton Public Schools as being in need of some help to have a happy holiday season. The children will be given the money and allowed to purchase the toys and games they want the most. 

Caption: Dalton police officers and firefighters pose with Santa Claus outside of Walmart at the 2021 "Shop With A Hero" event

"You go shopping with a kid and the first thing the kid wants to do is to start buying gifts for siblings and for parents. It’s just all around an awesome experience," said Chief Pangle. "I don’t miss it I make sure that I’m there every year."

The event started years ago as "Shop With A Cop" coordinated and hosted by the Dalton Police Department. Dalton officers raise money for the event year round through various fundraisers and partnerships with local businesses and benefactors. In recent years, the fire department has joined forces with the police department to make the event bigger and better. 

"It’s an opportunity to be able to give back to the community and to help out kids that would otherwise not be able to have as good of a Christmas or have a Christmas at all," said Chief Pangle. "It’s a great opportunity for us to be able to have an impact on people’s lives beyond helping during an emergency. So it’s a great opportunity for us and we love it."

In 2021, the police and fire departments were able to serve 19 children for "Shop With A Hero."