When Wendy Briley’s husband, Ken, became the Grundy County Sheriff in 2019, she looked around and realized the county didn’t have a Shop with a Cop program.

The closest nearby was Seneca, and other communities in La Salle County have made it a tradition for decades now.

“I said, ‘I’d like to start something like that in Grundy County,’” Briley said. “The more I thought about it, the more I thought it didn’t need to be just cops. Why not do cops, firefighters, EMT and military? Why not make it heroes?”

While Briley is referring to the first responders as heroes in this sense, they aren’t the heroes of this story, necessarily. The first responders participate in Heroes & Helpers only one day a year, which this year will be Saturday, Dec. 12.

Instead, the heroes are the year-round volunteers who operate Grundy County Heroes & Helpers, Briley and the community of first responders’ families and friends who have built Heroes & Helpers into an organization that functions year-round.

Briley said she spent 2019 presenting her idea to local police and firefighters, and often the first response she got was “that sounds great. How much money do you need?”

She said she had to explain she wasn’t coming to them for money; she was asking them to participate in taking the kids Christmas shopping.

Grundy County Heroes & Helpers bought Christmas presents for 63 children that first year, and then took them to the VFW in Morris for lunch.

It turns out that the VFW, with 63 children and so many police officers, firefighters, and EMTs, was a little cramped. It wasn’t that big of a problem the first year, but the second year was 2020.

That’s when Briley said Pastor Scott Zorn from First Christian Church on Southmor Road stepped in.

“He reached out to me and said his church would like to be involved in this,” Briley said. “He said God brought light to us, and his church wants to be involved in the community. Scott’s been a partner of mine since the beginning.”

First Christian Church on Southmor Road is a large building with sprawling hallways, a large auditorium, and a massive sanctuary that accommodates everyone, even with social distancing.

In 2020, despite the pandemic, Grundy County Heroes & Helpers increased the number of kids it helped to 75. It’s increased every year since, and Grundy County Heroes & Helpers have aided a total of 967 kids since the beginning.

Briley said the organization spends approximately $25,000 to $30,000 on clothes and shoes for kids each year.

As for toys, approximately 80% come from the annual drive held outside Walmart, which this year will be Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 19 and 20.

The rest comes from the organization’s purchases funded by money it raises at its annual Drawdown fundraiser and from other donations.

Briley said organizations like Morris Cruise Night and the Morris Country Club are also helpful because they host fundraising nights for Heroes & Helpers.

“Some of these kids I’ve talked to, the only time they’ve dealt with law enforcement is from a bad situation,” Briley said. “Mom or dad got hauled off, or there was abuse in the family, or their family is fighting with the cops. In these children’s minds, they’re afraid of the cops.”

She said Heroes & Helpers provides an opportunity to see police officers and firefighters outside their worst days. It gives the kids a chance to get to know them.

Briley said Heroes & Helpers has also participated in other fundraisers, such as helping a child who was losing his eyesight raise money for a guide dog, as well as helping sick children and their families pay for treatment.

Since 2019, Heroes & Helpers has raised $152,110 for 12 families.