Community Engagement

Holiday Heroes (formerly "Shop with a Cop")

In 2020, The Tomball Fire Department and Tomball Police Department combined their two respective Christmas charitable programs to form one bigger City-Wide event with participation from all of Tomball's First Responders. Members of the Tomball Police Department, Fire Department, Public Works, and City Hall joined together with the many community businesses and families that sponsored Holiday Heroes and took an unprecedented 43 children shopping at Tomball Wal-Mart.  

The program grew even more in 2021. Members of Northwest Community Health, Montgomery County Sheriff's Office, and Harris County Sheriff's Office joined in as the Holiday Heroes for 72 Tomball area children, each given a $300 limit at Tomball Wal-Mart. In addition to the 72 children that went shopping with Heroes at the event, more sponsors stepped up to adopt four families for the holidays, which brought a new element to the Holiday Heroes event, more in line with Tomball Fire Department's Holiday Family Adoption in years' past.

Each year, Tomball ISD counselors and staff nominate children from their schools for this program and submit them to the School Resource Officer(s) for consideration for the program. Holiday Heroes is 100% funded by donations from Community sponsors and hosted by Explorer Post 5451.

The History of "Shop with a Cop," 1999 - 2019:

Since 1999, The Tomball Police Department has partnered with Tomball Wal-Mart and Tomball ISD to take 20-25 economically disadvantaged children for a day of Christmas fun with a police officer. The program served approximately 360 children with almost $70,000 in family gifts. It made new friendships and positively impacted those in our community who would typically only see a uniformed officer during a less cheerful event. These children fill their baskets with slow-cookers for their moms, toys for their siblings and electronics for their dads. The "participants" in Tomball Police Department's Shop With a Cop program often think of themselves last. Many children live with someone other than their parents, are otherwise separated from their family members, and have several siblings living at home with them.

"My little girl went into Wal-Mart with NO intentions of buying anything for herself," said first-year officer Cleo Thomas. "I had to make her get herself clothes and toys." They are given $200 and are also provided with breakfast from McDonald's.

"Do we really have $200 dollars?" one boy asked his police partner in excited disbelief.