MONTE VISTA — Thirteen children took part in the Shopping with a First Responder event organized by the Monte Vista Police Department, the Rio Grande County Sheriff’s Office, Monte Vista EMS, Colorado State Patrol and the LOR Foundation on Saturday, Dec. 9.

The children were taken to Alamosa and shopped at Walmart for Christmas presents, with a first responder. The event was funded by the LOR Foundation’s Monte Vista office.  

According to Monte Vista Police Chief George Dingfelder, the children walked through Walmart and picked out gifts for Christmas.  The children were all smiling and enjoyed the time spent with first responders picking out gifts. Pictures were taken at Walmart with the children.

Dingfelder said they worked with local schools to get connected with the children.

“Monte Vista school teacher Lorelyn Buss really helped with this event,” Dingfelder said. “We asked the school to identify families that needed some help for the holidays. Lorelyn Buss helped us identify families, kids that would need some help with some gifts. We met at Ski Hi this morning and went over everything that would take place, with the kids.”

Most of the kids rode with the first responders, either with a cop, or deputy, or with the ambulance down to Walmart.

“We spent a couple of hours this morning taking the kids shopping,” Dingfelder said. “The LOR Foundation, Ivette Atencio, helped with the funding for this, and it was a great event. The kids were happy. The kids all said thank you, they were smiling, and they enjoyed it. It was a lot of fun for them, but to tell you the truth, the first responders had just as much fun as the kids did too.”

Chief Dingfelder said that the parents were appreciative and thanked all the responders for taking the kids.

Dingfelder thanked all of the partners for their help with the event.

“A big shout out to Walmart for all their help,” he said. “They were very gracious and very helpful to all of us. They were great partners in all of this. A special thank you also to the Rio Grande Sherriff’s Office, all the deputies, and Monte Vista PD, Monte Vista EMS, the Colorado State Patrol, Ivette Atencio and the LOR Foundation, and Lorelyn Buss at the school.”