Lyon County Sheriff Eric Wallen and Cami Neyens helped wrap gifts for Neyens’ family during Sunday’s “Holidays with Heroes” event in Marshall. Area youth were paired up with emergency responders for a special Christmas shopping trip.

MARSHALL — A few shoppers stood out in the bustle of people at the Marshall Walmart this weekend. Area kids and teens were making their way through the store, together with uniformed police officers, or local firefighters and medical responders.

“The really neat part of it is, it’s a way for kids to see emergency service personnel in a positive way,” said Jasmine DeSmet, one of the area community members helping at the fourth annual “Holidays with Heroes” event.

Holidays with Heroes brought together youth and emergency responders, for a special holiday shopping trip. Young people from a total of 13 area families got a chance to pick out presents for each of their family members.

On Sunday afternoon, kids like Brody Lanners pushed carts down the aisles, while emergency responders helped keep track of their budget and shopping lists. Responders even helped kids brainstorm gift ideas for family members like siblings.

“It was good,” Brody said of the experience.

“He had a pretty good list to start with,” said Dane Meyer with North Memorial Ambulance, who had teamed up with Brody. “And we called his mom for ideas on a couple things.”

Emily Smith said she also had some ideas of what to shop for when she and firefighter Kelly Wasberg teamed up at the event.

“It went really well. We enjoyed it,” Wasberg said.

Adding to the fun of the day was a pizza party where youth and emergency responders wrapped gifts together.

Some of the agencies taking part in the event included the Lyon County Sheriff’s Department, Marshall Police, the Minnesota State Patrol, Marshall Fire Department and North Memorial Ambulance.

“It really offers them an opportunity to interact with kids,” said Ryan Anthony, one of the organizers of Holidays with Heroes.

Among the organizers helping out Holidays with Heroes this year, were participants in the Marshall Leadership Academy program hosted by the Marshall Area Chamber of Commerce.

“Our final project is something community-focused,” DeSmet said of MLA. DeSmet and Kassi Tietz said MLA members worked to help raise awareness of Holidays with Heroes on social media, and encourage community members to donate Walmart gift cards to help support the event.

“We hope that with the social media presence of this event, we hope people can realize it’s an event for the community,” Anthony said.

Organizers said there were a lot of community members and area businesses that helped support Holidays with Heroes. The list included Walmart, the Pizza Ranch, Hy-Vee, and more. Anthony said organizers were always open to additional partnerships, and new fundraising strategies to help keep the event going.

“We think this is something great for the community,” he said.