(Jennifer Scott/Tyler Morning Telegraph)

As a single mom of four, Danielle King wasn’t sure how she was going to give her kids the Christmas they deserved.

“I’ve been struggling,” she said. “It’s been a tough year.”

Then she learned her family was invited to participate in the Blue Santa event.

Dozens of first responders gathered in the garden section of Walmart on Thursday evening ready to be paired with families like King’s, who had a chance to shop for Christmas gifts as part of the annual Blue Santa tradition.

Through Tyler Patrolman’s Blue Santa, first responders helped 200 kids shop for toys and more from their Christmas lists, thanks to generous community donations.

“To be honest, I didn’t even know this existed until this year,” King said. “It’s a wonderful organization. I appreciate them so much. It feels so good that the community came together and helped.”

Each child was given $100 to spend, ensuring they could pick out something special for the holidays.

“The officers, the firemen, the EMTs… they’ll have a little bitty child that’ll grab a big old person and drag them down the toy aisle,” said Sgt. Chuck Boyce of the Tyler Police Department. “Or you just see a big burly guy looking at baby dolls. It’s good stuff.”

As King’s children eagerly explored the toy aisles with a first responder, she followed close behind, her youngest contentedly playing with a Cocomelon toy in the shopping cart.

“He loves Cocomelon,” King said. “It feels so good seeing them pick out what they want… I know I couldn’t afford Christmas this year, but they have smiles on their faces. It’s just so wonderful how many families can come together and have a great Christmas.”

Operation Blue Santa is a nationwide initiative that began in 1972 in Austin when two patrolmen discovered many families in their district were struggling during the holidays. Tyler joined the program in 2007 when several patrolmen wanted to do more to help the community.

“We bring them all together at this time of year,” Boyce said. “Typically Christmas is a little dim for them so we try to brighten it up a little bit.”

Thursday marked the second of two nights where families and first responders came together for the event. The first shopping spree took place last Tuesday at the Walmart on Troup Highway in Tyler.

Boyce said a plethora of folks join in to make the event a success.

“We have the officers’ spouses that are doing cocoa, and we have Crumble Cookies here,” he said Thursday night. “It’s an all-star cast that puts this on for our area.”

Community supporters were proud to see the event come togehter.

“I love the way that it’s run and the hearts of the people that are involved,” said Jim Nipp, president of The Genesis Group. “It’s a great program… and to see the kids bond with a police officer is such a positive thing.”

The Genesis Group is one of many corporate partners involved with Operation Blue Santa. Through the Genesis Gives Back Fund, employees can contribute money throughout the year. The company then matches the funds, which are distributed to various nonprofits, including Tyler’s Blue Santa program.

“They all have the same goal in making sure that kids have this great experience,” Nipp said. “They want to make sure that kids have a great Christmas. And some of these kids… I’ve seen some who ask to use the money to buy food for their families.”

Many of the kids rush to check off their own Christmas list but they also think about their families.

“They look for something for mommy, for daddy, her little brother, little sister,” Boyce said. “We had one instance where they grabbed a pillow. They were like, ‘I don’t have a pillow.’ Things like that we take for granted. The heartstrings get pulled with these kids.”

In addition to the shopping spree, participants were treated to photos with Blue Santa, a tradition that started in 2019, where the kids posed for pictures and received instant printouts of the memory.

“It’s all about the kids, that’s our motto,” Boyce said. “It’s all about the kids.”