DeKALB– On Sunday, the DeKalb Police Benevolent & Protective Association (PB & PA) and DeKalb Target are hosting this year’s “Heroes & Helpers” event, helping children in special situations have an amazing holiday season.

The event flips the script – the children are the “heroes” and the police officers are the “helpers.” Each child is partnered with a DeKalb police officer, and the officer will help the child choose $100 worth of gifts for themselves and their families. 

Chris Sullivan, school resource officer at DeKalb High School, said this is something different than day-to-day work for police officers.

“This is one of the events where we can step outside of what we normally do. We get to make (the child’s) day be better,” Sullivan said.

The children are all residents of DeKalb or in DeKalb School District 428 and are nominated by the school district or other local agencies. 

“The schools have social workers and counselors and deal with the kids on a different level. The schools give us a list of kids that we actually nominate,” Sullivan said. “We’ve got a very large number of kids that have been nominated this year.” 

The Heroes & Helpers event is 100% volunteer-based.

“We usually get a pretty decent turnout of officers, but it’s all people coming and volunteering their time,” Sullivan said.

Donations to fund the event can help make a difference in these childrens’ holiday seasons.

“It’s due to the community to give us the funds to do it,” Sullivan said. “We appreciate the community.”