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Loudoun's Needy Children Go Shopping With 'Santa Cops'
Loudoun County sheriff's investigator Ken Fognano looks on as brothers Pierre, 11, and Alain Kouam, 8, shop for shoes.
(Photos By Kyle Hansen -- Loudounextra.com)
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"There are so many children that don't have this advantage," she said. "The only contact they have with the law is when they do something wrong."
Hylton has been raising Austin since he was 3 months old. She also raised his older brother for many years.
"They don't know what it is like to have a mother and father for Christmas," she said of her great-grandsons. "If I didn't take them in, I don't know where they would be."
She said Austin's 13-year-old brother moved out of state to live with his grandmother, Hylton's daughter, three years ago.
"We won't see them for Christmas," Hylton said. "This kind of thing helps to make up for that."
Loudoun sheriff's lieutenant Ed Leonard helped Austin select his gifts. "I miss having the one-on-ones with the youth," said Leonard, explaining that as a station commander he stays mostly in the office. "It is great just to see the smiles on their faces.
"I have this boy's number now, and I will call him up through the year and see how he is doing," Leonard added. "And [his great-grandmother] has my number in case they ever need anything."
After the shopping was done, the children were able to sit on Santa's lap and tell them what else they wanted before the FOP treated them and their families to breakfast at the International House of Pancakes across the street.
Lodge Secretary John Ohrnberger, an investigator with the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles, said the event was a big change from the problems most of the officers are used to dealing with as part of their jobs.
"It's an emotional thing for a lot of these officers," he said. "In dealing with a lot of dysfunctional families over the years, you don't get to see the other side a lot -- times when you can do something good. This is a chance to do something good."
Dan Farrel, a retired Fairfax County sheriff's deputy, agreed.
"When a cop is at your door, it is not usually to bring a gift. It is to bring you bad news," he said. "They don't get a lot of chances to bring a smile to someone's face.
"In all the years that I had this job, in 27 years, I never got as good a feeling as I get from doing this."
