A brown lab, wearing a raincoat and service handle, led the way Saturday as her owner, Juanita Woodcox, her son, her nephew and Jackson County Sheriff’s Department Officer Mark Holt roamed the aisles of Walmart Supercenter in Seymour.

The two children would occasionally pick out items from the racks of clothes before eventually making their way to the shelves of toys to pick out something during their Christmas shopping trip paid for by Fraternal Order of Police Donald M. Winn Lodge 108.

“I’m not a real emotional guy, but this event, it just does something for you,” said Seymour Detective Sgt. C.J. Foster, who has organized the Cops & Kids program for several years now. “I don’t know what you would call it, heartwarming maybe, but it just sticks with you.”

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This year, the local FOP group helped 64 families, providing each child with $130 to spend.

The officers always try to start the children with necessities like clothes, shoes and boots before moving to the toy aisles.

Many would agree it has been a hard year, and that’s why the FOP was happy to help again this year with the 24th annual Cops & Kids program.

One of the first people to shop with a police officer Saturday was Woodcox, helped by her dog, Mocha, with her son, Bryan Woodcox, and nephew, Johnathan Coleman, in tow.

“I had never even heard of the program, but to get the kids the things they need and want on a fixed income and with a changing family situation, it was hard. This is just great,” she said, motioning to the officer walking with her and his family.

Fifth-grader Alexis Kennedy walked in front of another group, including Jackson County Sheriff’s Department Lt. Andy Wayman.

She hopped from one location to another followed by her family and Wayman’s family.

“It’s a really cool program. They give money to kids that need help,” Kennedy said. “I get to get L.O.L. Dolls and pajamas for the school’s pajama day.”

The event means as much to many of the law enforcement officers and their families as it does to the families involved.

“It’s amazing,” Holt said. “We just want to make a difference, and something small can change everything for someone else. A smile, being friendly, it goes a long way.”

Holt said he worries a lot of times that law enforcement are portrayed as “bad guys,” sort of a boogeyman to scare children.

“For some of these kids, it’s the first step in showing them that we aren’t scary or here to take them away, but we want to help. These kids see us at this and they remember us later,” he said.

“I want my son to have appreciation for someone doing something kind for you and to know that cops are really there to help them,” Woodcox said.

Holt shopped with his daughter, Shelby Holt, a freshman in high school.

Holt said he didn’t have to ask her to come and help. She came on her own choice, and that meant a lot to him.

“As a parent, that’s all you can ask for,” he said. “All you can hope for is that they want to help others, too, and not because they’re told to but because they want to.”

That is the way it is for many of the officers involved in Cops & Kids, Seymour Police Chief Bill Abbott.

Many of the officers involved and their families have other things they could be doing during the Christmas season, but they have willingly chosen to help out with the program for many years, he said.

For several of the law enforcement officers, including Abbott and Wayman, this may be the last year they personally are involved as retirement looms on the horizon.

They both said the program will continue to go on and be in good hands.

“I don’t think it’s entirely set in yet,” Abbott said of the realization it would be his last time. “We’ll probably come back and help with some of the stuff. It has been fun. It’s all about the kids, kids and community.”

Community involvement is among the reasons Foster believes the program has gone on and will continue to bring joy to so many children.

“We do the fundraisers, Scoop the Loop, the Pre-Scoop the Loop Car Show and we get donations from a lot of individuals and sponsors like Centra Credit Union, but the community’s support is how we keep this running each year,” he said.

No new endeavors to change the fundraisers or the program itself are planned next year, he said.

“January 1, we’ll start it all over again and just keep it going,” Foster said.

The first Christmas shopping event was in December 1994 and was the brainchild of Linda Renbarger, the Kmart store manager in Seymour. Twenty area kids were treated to breakfast and $50 shopping sprees that year.

That store closed in February 1995, but the program, then known as Shop with a Cop, continued until its name was changed to Cops & Kids in 2011.