VIDEO: Columbia County firefighters took children from the closed Dream Academy on a Christmas shopping spree Friday, providing a reunion for kids and teachers who haven’t seen each other since the after-school program shut down in June due to federal funding delays.
Each child received $250 to spend at the Evans Walmart, funded by the fire department’s boot drive collections.
“Today we’re going shopping with a firefighter and as you can see… firefighter right here,” said Khalil Miller, a Dream Academy student, as he walked through the store with firefighter Roy Wright.
Wright, a 25-year veteran with Columbia County Fire, said the shopping trip represents where some of the department’s fundraising efforts go.
“When you see the firefighters out collecting money with the boot drives, this is where some of it goes, to these kids,” Wright said.
