Officer Joe Sulaica with the Sylvania Township Police Department has been a part of Sylvania Area Family Service’s Shop with a Hero program for “at least 12 years.”
“This is really a good break from all of the difficult things we have to deal with on a daily basis,” Officer Sulaica said. “We get to donate our time for the smiles we get. It fills our hearts as much as it does theirs.”
Officer Sulaica was able to talk Pokemon with his assigned child on a cold Wednesday evening at Meijer in Sylvania Township. He also burst into laughter when hearing what his young student said was the best part of the shopping trip.
“He helped me find a Fuecoco Pokemon,” Weston McMunn, a fourth-grade student at Hillview Elementary, said. “I also got to spend $150 in someone else’s money. I am having so much fun. I would do this every day if I could!”
Dottie Segur, executive director of Sylvania Area Family Services, said 90 children took part in the Shop with a Hero program over two days. The first day, 46 kids shopped at Walmart. The store gave the organization a $2,000 grant, so each child was given a $100 gift card to spend.