By Andrew Wind
Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa — Cole Ragusi was making good progress Monday picking out presents for his family. Then the 9-year-old noticed a pair of Razor Jetts Heel Wheels on the shelf at Wal-Mart.
“I see something that I want now, but it’s $34.94,” he told Roger Stensland, a Cedar Falls firefighter who was shopping with the boy.
Fortunately, the annual Christmas shopping trip firefighters were doing with nine children chosen by the Cedar Falls elementary schools accounts for such a possibility. Along with finding gifts for family, the kids are allowed to get something for themselves. Ragusi had agreed, however, to get his presents last.
“We’re kind of getting all the brothers and sisters first, and then we’ll be focusing on Cole’s at the end,” said Stensland. “He got a good list of ideas from his brothers and sisters.” Along with siblings, Ragusi was buying for his parents and his mom’s fiance.
The children had gift cards worth $166 to spend, which Capt. Sharon Regenold estimated would leave them $155 before taxes. The gift cards were funded with a $1,000 grant from Wal-Mart, $500 from the Cedar Falls AMVETS and $100 from Magee Construction.
“We’ve done it 10 or 12 years,” said Regenold. Wal-Mart has “funded it every year with the Cedar Falls local union supplementing it.”
She said the children chosen aren’t necessarily from families in financial need. Rather, they are “just someone who needs a positive experience.”
Ana Sanders, 11, was shopping without a list from her brother, sister and mom. With the help of Alex Sharp, the son of a firefighter, she was figuring out what her family would like while going up and down the aisles.
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“I think it’s just fun going around helping get all this stuff,” said Sharp, explaining why he volunteered.
Kaylee Rundel made a list and already had four items in the cart as she bought gifts for three sisters, a brother and her parents. She and firefighter Jim Cook crisscrossed the store as they looked for gifts to check off the list.
Cook, who is president of the Cedar Falls Firefighters Association, said he likes seeing the look on the children’s faces as they fill their carts. “It’s that time of year where it does a lot to make you feel good,” he said.
“We’re part of the community, whether it’s responding to a medical emergency or putting out a fire,” Cook added. “We’re here to help, that’s what we enjoy doing.”
Copyright 2016 Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier