Local law enforcement provide holiday cheer to children in need

For years, law enforcement agencies in Lorain County have taken a day to provide toys and smiles to children who would otherwise go without during the holidays, and while the programs looked different this year, a pandemic didn't stop the effort. Avon, Avon Lake, North Ridgeville and Sheffield police departments and Lorain County Sheriff's Office teamed up to stuff bags of toys into families' trunks during a drive-thru Holidays with Hometown Heroes event Saturday morning. Organizer Avon police Sgt. George Ruple said as officers and first responders, their career choice is a lifestyle, and volunteering time to help the community is part of that. "We're always here to help people," he said. "We want to maintain that representation, especially in tough times where you might not have the best outlook on police officers ... especially we wanted to make sure that the kids going through hard times such as homeschooling, not being able to play with their friends, it's got to be extremely tough on the younger kids." This is the second year for the Holidays with Hometown Heroes program. Prior to that, many of those departments participated in an annual Shop with a Cop event in Cuyahoga County. Each agency provided for families in their jurisdiction, often identifying those in need with help from local school districts. Funds for the toys were donated by local businesses, Sworn Justice Motorcycle Club, Meijer and local police unions. North Ridgeville police provided for 10 families, including 23 kids; Lorain County Sherriff's Office provided for four families, including 10 kids; Avon Police provided for two families, including four kids; Avon Lake Police provided for three families with nine children; and Sheffield police provided for four families with five children, Ruple said. Donning their best Santa hats and elf ears, a handful of officers braved cold, rainy weather Saturday morning to greet families as they drove up to North Ridgeville High School at their designated times and loaded a bright red bag of toys into the back of each vehicle. The roughly two dozen officers were joined by Lyle Gregg, whose wife teaches at the North Ridgeville Academic Center. Overhearing North Ridgeville resource officer Calvin Cross talking about the program, Jodie Gregg volunteered her husband for the quintessential role. "It's been such a crappy year, if I can do a little something to help people out or whatnot … it's what I can do," Lyle Gregg said. Rather than borrow a Santa suit, he bought one this season and plans to visit some neighbors' homes to spread holiday cheer to their little ones. Normally he visits Jodie's intensive needs class at the Academic Center, but is unable to this year. Cross, who grew up in the city, said officers planned to make the program work one way or another. They received approval from Lorain County Public Health to hold Saturday's drive through. "I was pretty fortunate as a kid and as an adult and I think it's obviously important to give back to people that have not been as fortunate as me," he said. Lorain police To the north, a handful of Lorain Police officers gathered in the garden center at the Leavitt Road Walmart to help more than 40 families shop for those approved for their longstanding program. In its 11th year, Lorain Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 3 raised $25,000 in funds to help provide a Christmas to the families its officers serve, collecting donations from its membership, its Associate Lodge 46, church groups and the city's CARES Act funds. FOP Lodge 3 accepted more than 300 applications for the program, with many families citing job loss or familial changes due to COVID-19, organizers Officer Kyle Gelenius and Sgt. Tabitha Angello said. "A lot of families (are) unfortunately in poverty in the community and COVID's just making the situation worse," Gelenius said. "It's very nice this year we can try to supply some normalcy for the kids in the holiday season. I'm sure everyone is stressed not going to school, being cooped up in the house with each other — if we can brighten kids days or a better holiday season we're humble to make that happen." Angello agreed. "There's obviously some families that have worked and have never asked for help before and have always provided for their children, but due to the pandemic their income has significantly lowered so they wanted to reach out and ask for help this year," she said. "There's some families that came into some health problems and there's some families that actually got custody or guardianship of their grandchildren that were able to participate in the program as well." This year, the department's union helped provide gifts for 107 kids from 43 families in Lorain. Each child received $150 to spend between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Saturday. Rather than gathering everyone at the high school and busing them to the store, social distancing guidelines required families to shop with the children themselves. Some off-duty officers volunteered their time helping families pace through the toy aisles, negotiating this toy or that with children. Rose, a mother of three helping her kids budget wisely, said without the program her children wouldn't have any Christmas gifts. She declined to give her last name, but said she'd lost income and her youngest daughter during the pandemic. "It means a lot," she said of the Cops and Kids program. "There are things I could not do, and this is one of them. … This is awesome — I wouldn't be able to do any of this." Contact Carissa Woytach at (440) 329-7245 or cwoytach@chroniclet.com.