CAIRO — Nearly 40 underprivileged children will have the opportunity to purchase their own Christmas gifts by the end of the week through the Cairo Police Department’s annual “Shop With a Cop” event.

Groups of 12 and 20 children were given free reign at the Cairo Walmart on Highway 84 on Tuesday to purchase whatever gifts they desired for themselves. The children were accompanied by patrol officers Tommy Gainous, Chris Sapp and Brandon Griffin, as well as administrative Lt. Karen Cromartie.

“We just let them walk around the store and buy what they want,” Cromartie said.

Another group of four children are scheduled to have their own shopping spree Friday afternoon.

By contacting the school system, the state Division of Family and Children Services, the Jackie Robinson Boys & Girls Club and other local organizations, Cromartie produced a rough list of names of children in need. That list is then further whittled down to those who are determined to be in the most need.

The children who are selected for the event are given as much time as they want to explore the store and select gifts for themselves within a $200 budget.

“They can use it for anything they want,” Cromartie said. “Whatever the kids want to buy for their Christmas, they can.”

If they’re unable to spend the entire amount, the children are given the remaining balance on a gift card to use as they please.

In all, the police department is expecting to spend close to $8,000 of charitable donations for the event — most of which was raised by the Veteran Enforcers Motorcycle Association (VEMA) in a poker run last weekend. VEMA alone raised $7,000 for the event, Cromartie said.

Though it’s the kids who do the shopping, Cromartie said it’s really their parents, many of them single, whose burden is being relieved.

“(The parents) are happy because they’re not having to worry about what they’ll have to do for their child when they’re not going to have that much,” she said. “By being able to help them, it helps a family all the way around.”