IFD firefighters take children to Christmas shopping
As part of IFD’s Cloth-A-Child program, children are assigned a firefighter who helps them purchase a warm coat, school clothes and a new pair of winter shoes.
INDIANAPOLIS – Indianapolis firefighters rallied around Santa this weekend with a shopping spree. The firefighters prepared breakfast for about fifty children on Saturday morning at
The firefighters celebrated an early Christmas with about fifty children on Saturday morning. They started the day at Indianapolis Professional Firefighters Union Hall, where the kids ate a hearty breakfast that the firefighters cooked up like a fire station.
Then they loaded onto buses and headed to Greenwood Park Mall.
It was all part of the Cloth-A-Child program at IFD. As part of the program, children are assigned a firefighter who helps them buy a warm coat, school clothes and a new pair of winter shoes.
Indy’s firefighters replace Santa and take kids to buy winter clothes
About $ 10,000 is spent each year to make sure children are prepared for colder temperatures.
When finished, the buses brought the children and firefighters back to Union Hall where they visited Santa and opened a present.
IFD Battalion Chief Scott Isaacs said the fun wasn’t just for the kids.
“It’s a great opportunity for us, we can see families and children in a situation they don’t normally find themselves in. We usually see them in an emergency and today we can do something fun and good with the kids. Isaacs said.
The event is a family affair, with many firefighters joined by their own families.
The IFD said it allows firefighters to teach their own children “the value of helping others, especially during the holidays.”
The IFD Clothing-A-Child program is funded by donations and through the Fill the Bell program. Firefighters will be “ringing the bell” December 10-23 at Macy’s in Castleton Square Shopping Center from 10 am to 8 pm daily.