Lemoore Police and volunteers bring holiday cheer and a 'Reason for the Season'

For the third straight year, local volunteers, guided by the Lemoore Police Department, came together Friday night at the Lemoore Civic Auditorium to hand out presents to local kids and bring a little holiday cheer – and a whole bunch of smiles – to the faces of the about 200 kids. There were a lot of smiles on the faces of the myriad of volunteers helping to hand out the packages as well.

“We just like to see the smiles on the children’s faces,” said Soledad Perez, the Lemoore Police Department’s Community Services Officer, who helped to spearhead the annual project. “We do it because we like to help, and we just like to have the children have a gift to open during Christmas.”

Lemoore Police Cmdr. Margaret Ochoa said that this year’s event catered to 68 families and about 200 kids from the local elementary and middle schools. There was a concerted effort by volunteers – and the schools – to identify the kids who might need a few extra presents under the tree this year.

Once the list of names was compiled, Perez visited the families, getting clothing sizes and other details, took the information to the local Kmart, which opened early one morning just for the Christmas shoppers, and bought the items. “It takes a lot of volunteers, a lot of hours, a lot of shopping and wrapping,” said Perez.

Donations were solicited from a variety of sources, including members of the Lemoore Police Department and Lemoore Christian Aid, which provided 100 boxes of frozen goods.

There’s even more. The volunteers, including police officers, Volunteers in Policing (VIPs) and members of the Lemoore Explorers program spent hours wrapping the presents for Friday night’s event. The end result: a bunch of kids got a little something extra under the tree this year.