By Nick Diamantides
Staff Writer
Seven needy families in Signal Hill will have a merry Christmas this year thanks to the efforts of the Signal Hill Police Department.
“We looked for families that did not have the financial resources to buy gifts for their children,” said SHPD Community Officer Don Moreau who operated the police substation at the Las Brisas housing complex. He explained that four Las Brisas families were selected and the guidance counselors of local elementary schools also provided names of the families they knew that needed help buying gifts.
He noted that at this point, due to budget constraints, the SHPD cannot accept any more families into this year’s program. “We actually had someone bring another family that needed assistance to our attention recently,” he said. “We are contacting other local agencies that offer this kind of help during Christmas and I am sure we will find some other avenue of assistance for them.” He added that the same would be done for other families brought to the SHPD’s attention.
The City of Signal Hill maintained the Christmas outreach program for many years through its crisis intervention department. During that time, city staff would deliver wrapped gifts to the families’ homes. The crisis intervention department ceased to exist a few years ago.
“Last year, the local Target store contacted the city to say it had a donation for the Christmas outreach,” Moreau said. “At that time, we decided it would be better to give the families Target gift cards and allow them to decide what they wanted to buy.” He noted that parents who received the cards had the option of buying the gifts themselves or giving a gift card to each of their children.
“The families were all very thankful, and they could not believe that they had been selected to receive the gift cards,” he said. “Most of them could not have purchased any presents at all for their kids, so this meant a lot to them.” He added that one of the most touching experiences last year was when they presented the gift cards to a single mom living in a small motel room with her four children. “They would have had no Christmas without our help,” he said. “We were all very impressed with their gratitude and with how well behaved her kids were.
This year, the city’s community services department discovered that about $1,000 was still in the former crisis intervention department’s Christmas outreach account. “So they transferred that money to the police department for this year’s outreach,” Moreau said. “We decided to give each of the seven families $150 worth of Target gift cards.”
The families do not yet know they have been selected for the program. “I’m sure it will come as a very welcome surprise when we phone them next week to let them know we are coming to their homes with the gift cards,” Moreau noted. The cards will be distributed next Wednesday afternoon.
“I am hoping that this year’s outreach is not quite as exciting as last year’s,” Moreau said with a laugh. Last year, the SHPD named the outreach the “Shop With a Cop” program. The plan was to have the families all meet at Target and have Moreau accompany them while they shopped. “Unfortunately, while that was going on, somebody pointed out a shoplifter to me,” Moreau said. “While apprehending him, I got into a scuffle with him.”
He noted that this year the SHPD is not sticking with the “Shop With a Cop” theme. “If we can get all the families to show up at Target at the same time, I would be glad to be there to greet them,” he said. “But it’s if they want to spend a few hours selecting the items they want, it’s not practical for me to be there.”
Moreau added that he himself is thankful for the opportunity to be part of the Christmas outreach. “To be able to help these families and to see how much they appreciate it is worth more than words can express,” he said.
