There was an excitement about Wal-Mart last week, which seemed to rival Black Friday morning, as 18 area kids with gift cards in hand couldn’t wait to be let loose.

Looking up at his shopping partner, Noah Mack, 5, couldn’t contain his smile.

“He’s really excited. He was talking about it all day,” his mother, Susan Wright, said.

The kids were participants with Litchfield’s first Shop with a Cop, a partnership between the Litchfield Police Department, Wal-Mart and Bernick’s Pepsi-Cola Bottling Co.

Pepsi donated $1,000 to the Wal-Mart store to give local kids a chance to shop for family, friends and themselves. Wal-Mart store manager Beth Pascoe contacted Heartland Community Action Agency in Litchfield to find the deserving kids.

“It gives kids the opportunity they wouldn’t have to get toys for themselves or buy for their parents, the means to have a better Christmas,” Pascoe said.

Each kid was given a $50 gift card and broke off in small groups with the officers to peruse the store Dec. 19. With the help of Officer Aaron Nelson, Trent Tjaden, 14, browsed Wal-Mart’s CD collection. Brandi, 15, and Derek Dorman, 12, each bought socks and a new sweatshirt.

Kayla Peterson, 9, had picked up several gifts in the toy department for her siblings, and sisters Tiffany, 13, and AshLee Smith, 10, were buying presents for their parents and friends.

“(The kids I shopped with) wanted to get stuff for their mom and dad or brothers and sisters and made sure they filled their list before they got their own,” Litchfield Sgt. Bryant Blackwell said. “It reminds me of the spirit of Christmas.”

Read more about the Shop with a Cop program in the Dec. 27 Independent Review.