Evening Optimist Club donates to Shop with a Hero

Kristin Ham of the Evening Optimist Club presents a check in the amount of $500 to Cpl. Johnny Spencer, President of Cape Girardeau Regional Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 51, for Shop with a Hero held at the Cape Girardeau Walmart Supercenter.

Not only does Kristin Ham of the Optimist Club of Cape Girardeau present a check for $500 to the Shop with a Hero event held on December 6th at the Cape Girardeau Walmart Supercenter, at 5 a.m. that morning she becomes a volunteer. "I'll do whatever is needed to see the smiles on these children's faces," she says. Event Coordinator Valerie Wondrick adds, "Our Shop with a Hero is a dual purpose community effort. One is to give needy children the things they want for Christmas. The other is to create an interaction between the kids and the heroes who are officers, firefighters, and first responders. Some children are so timid when they first start to shop and then at the end of their shopping, they are all smiles and even hugging the hero." Cpl. Johnny Spencer summed it up, "Knowing we are able to make a child's Christmas brighter, while positively impacting families in our community is priceless!"

Josh Crain, manager of the Cape Girardeau Sams Club, gives a donation of $500 to Cape Walmart Supercenter Event Coordinator Valerie Wondrick for Shop with a Hero event. Donations allow up to 100 needy children to shop with $150 during December. Schools select the children who are ages 5 to 12 years old. Each child gets to shop with a local community hero which might be a law enforcement officer, firefighter, or first responder.