COVINGTON, Ga. - There are clichés used in journalism to describe events, many of which border on hyperbole. It is, however, no stretch to call the Covington Police Department’s annual “Shop with a Cop” Christmas shopping spree for foster children “God’s work.”

CPD hosted the yearly event Thursday afternoon at Walmart on Industrial Boulevard for 16 foster children selected by the Newton County Division of Family and Children’s Services.

The children were paired with one or more officers, Georgia State Patrol troopers or members of the CPD Explorer Post, given a $150 Walmart gift card and turned loose to pick out and buy whatever they could.

Sgt. Chris Smith, who coordinated this year’s event, said many of the officers came in on their off time to help the children have a Merry Christmas.

“All of the officers look forward to it,” he said. “We do it to try to make a positive impact.”

Capt. Ken Malcom said the money for the gift cards was raised through CPD’s annual Fuzz Run 5K. He said the CPD tradition of raising money to provide children with Christmas gifts dates back to the 1970s.

The children were all smiles as they and their cop escorts went from aisle to aisle picking out toys. Watching the officers sworn to serve and protect us modeling doll dresses and picking out pink baby strollers for the girls or helping the boys find the best and latest super hero action figures was memorable for anybody fortunate enough to see it.

Of course, the real heroes were pushing the shopping carts for the kids. Maybe CPD needs its own action figure.