Tulsa area law enforcement agencies are making spirits bright this holiday season with "Shop with a Cop" on Saturday morning.
The Tulsa County Sheriff's Department and the Bixby Police Department partnered with the Bixby Rotary Club to host a shopping spree at Bixby's Walmart.
The Rotary Club of Tulsa partnered with Tulsa FOP for their event at the Walmart on Memorial Drive.
The "Santas" swapped the beard for the badge to help kids who wouldn't otherwise have a holiday shop for presents.
"We work together and we shop with children in our community to enhance the lives of families to make the holidays a little bit brighter for our families in the community," said Tulsa County Deputy Richie Gonzales.
Roughly 50 kids in total perused the aisles with a cart and a cop.
"It really is about helping the children who may have had negative experiences with police officers in the past understand that they're real people understand that they're good people, and get to know them and just, you know, develop a relationship there beyond what they may have had in the past," said Bryan Bynum, the head of the Shop With a Cop Committee for the Bixby Rotary Club.
10-year-olds Da'Vann Lane and S.J. Wilson had a ball.
"It is really awesome because we get to go shop with a cop," said Wilson.
Lane said "it was epic."
"I have never shopped with a cop," said 10-year-old Hanna Vargas. "But this is probably the happiest day of my life."
Vargas said she was buying Hanukah gifts for her family, who she says includes a new sibling on the way.
"They're gonna be very happy," she said. "And I love seeing people smile. It's just like the happiest thing for me to see."
For those in uniform, spending time with the kids is the real gift.
"It's no stress, you know, there's there's nobody looking to chase anybody and no one's a victim of a crime here," said Tulsa Police Cpt. Richard Meulenberg. "So it's just the joyful time, where you have, you know, human beings connecting with other human beings."
During Meulenberg's interview with NewsChannel 8, a child came up to Meulenberg to thank him.
"He's a great person," the child said to Meulenberg.
The kids also get their own surprise, which they'll get to open later this holiday season.