Several Lehighton Borough Police cars converged in the Walmart parking lot on Saturday.

But, rather than respond to an incident, they instead gathered for a worthwhile cause.

The Lehighton Borough Police Department participated in its inaugural Shop With A Cop event.

As part of the event, officers took eight children to Walmart on a sponsored Christmas gift trip, according to Detective Matt Arner.

The children were given a certain amount of money to spend for gifts for family members, as well as being able to get gifts for themselves, Arner said.

“The Lehighton Borough Police Department partnered with Walmart - Lehighton, and the Lehighton Area School District to identify families that have endured difficulties, whether it was financial or for other reasons, who would benefit from this program,” Arner said. “Once the children were selected, all parties worked hard to coordinate this event.”

Arner said that the Shop With A Cop event had a generous donation from All Points Towing, Jim Thorpe, and Shamrock Containers Inc, Jim Thorpe, to give the initial financing for the event.

He said additional sponsors included Carbon County District Attorney Michael Greek, the staff from the Carbon County District Attorney’s office, the staff from state Rep. Doyle Heffley’s office and the staff from the Carbon County Chamber of Commerce.

In addition, Arner said Verona’s Pizza House, Lehighton, donated several pizzas for lunch after a busy day of shopping.

After lunch, he said the children were visited by the Santa of Lehighton, who spent time with each child and was amazed by the gratitude and joy from all of the children.

Arner added that the children spent time with the officers and staff from the borough police department to wrap gifts, and were also given demonstrations of the police cars and the All Points tow truck.

“Plans are already in place to ensure that this becomes an annual event for the police department,” he said. “The department is hoping to expand on this program and serve more families in the Lehighton community.”

Arner said that along with himself, borough police department staff that participated in the event included police Chief Joe Sparich, Arner, and officers Joel Gulla, Ivan Centeno and Alex Hummel, along with police clerks Karen Reichard and Doris Venuto.

“All of the other Lehighton Borough Police Officers and staff who could not be there played a significant role in launching this event,” he said.