Who:
Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office

Christmas Sharing Project
-“Santa’s Shoppers” (Members of the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office)

What:        
Nearly 100 Pinellas County uniformed sheriff’s deputies and members from across the agency will “Shop For Santa” to assist families registered with the Sheriff’s Christmas Sharing Project, a program which helps families in need over the holidays.

Shoppers will be spending the money earned at the 23nd annual “Ride & Run With the Stars” event, which was held at Fort DeSoto Park on Saturday, December 3, 2016. The amount raised this year exceeded $75,000.

When:
Shopping will begin at 7:00 a.m. and continue until about 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, December 14, 2016.
Volunteer shoppers will begin to arrive around 6:30 a.m..

Where:
“Shop for Santa” will be held at the Target located at 4450 Park Street North in St. Petersburg.

Why/How:
Uniformed Pinellas County deputies and members from across the agency will meet at the Target store located at 4450 Park Street North in St. Petersburg,  beginning at 7:00 a.m., on Wednesday, December 14th, 2016.

Members from the agency will have wish lists in hand and shopping carts ready as they “Shop for Santa” and purchase items for children and families being served by the Sheriff’s Christmas Sharing Project.

While toys are mentioned on the wish lists, basic needs items like underwear, socks, a jacket or school clothes usually top the lists provided by the families. The families in need were identified by Sheriff’s Office members throughout the year and are screened to determine the level of support, which is provided.

The event that helped to fund this holiday shopping spree, “Ride and Run With the Stars”, was held on Saturday, December 3, 2016 at Ft. DeSoto Park, and earned more than $75,000.

Bicycle requests will be filled separately and delivered to families throughout the holidays. Approximately 118 bikes will be delivered this year.

Deputies will be delivering many of the packages in person to the deserving families in the coming days.

Media is invited to cover. Please contact the Sheriff’s Public Information Office at (727) 582-6221 for additional information or assistance.

Sheriff Bob Gualtieri would like to thank the following “Sheriff’s Circle Sponsors” for their generous contributions:

3M
Abbey Adams Byelick & Mueller
Bechtel Financial Services
DITEK Corporation
Enforcement One
GTL
JoAnn & Joseph White
Pascia & Pascia Dentistry
Phoenix Venture Philanthropy
Schmidt Investments
Suncoast Voices for Children
Target
Walmart