PARKVILLE, Mo. — 'Twas the night before Christmas when Parkville police and the Southern Platte Fire Department brought an early Christmas to a handful of families.
It began with a call more than a decade ago that has yet to leave one captain's memory, or heart.
"It just bugged me how these kids, they had no Christmas tree, they had no gifts, nothing on it and I understand that not everybody is fortunate to have special times at Christmas like that," said Capt. Jon Jordan with the Parkville Police Department. "It's not like my family had a lot either, but they could each miss a gift."
Every year since then on Christmas Eve, the gesture has became a department-wide tradition, even growing in the years to come to include the Southern Platte Fire Department.
House by house, officers and firefighters walked up with gifts in hand and their emergency vehicle's lights flashing, anxiously awaiting the door to open, to give to someone who may otherwise have a little less, a little bit more.
"If we have an impact with one of those children, they'll remember. They'll remember something a little bit more positive about police," Jordan said. "You can make a difference once in a while and this is a way to do that."
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