Making spirits bright: Shop with a Bulldog hosts annual holiday shopping spree for Athens youth

It’s not every day that the Walmart Supercenter on Lexington Road in Athens opens its doors to a crowd of 500 excited elementary school-aged shoppers on a holiday spending spree.

Shop with a Bulldawg, a student-run 501(c)3 nonprofit organization at the University of Georgia, partners with elementary schools throughout Athens-Clarke County every year to bring Athens’ youth a fun-filled day, including a $120 shopping spree, wrapping gifts, activities and more, according to the SWAB website. On Sunday, Nov. 10, SWAB hosted its annual event day.

Behind the scenes, prepping for the big day

Codie Haddon, Kaitlyn O’Keefe and Caitlyn Searles, three freshmen at UGA, founded SWAB in 2009. The first year of SWAB raised $10,000 and funded holiday shopping trips for 46 children.

This year, over 500 kids were given the opportunity to shop, according to SWAB’s Director of Public Relations Carter Nichols.

“It’s a big production,” Nichols said.

Each elementary student is partnered with two UGA students, who are called “mentors.” UGA students who are interested in becoming a mentor begin the process months before the event day, which includes a background check.

Nichols said that the background check process was virtual this year, making the process more streamlined and allowing for more volunteer manpower at the event day than ever before.

Mentors are each expected to raise $60 before the event day for a combined total of $120 between their pairing. Each “mentee,” the elementary student, will then have a $120 budget to spend on clothing, toys, books and more.

Olivia Troiano, a freshman biology major at UGA, and Emma Register, a freshman animal sciences major at UGA, partnered up to be mentors for this year’s SWAB Event Day. Register said that she was drawn to the event because of how “fulfilling” it is not only for her and her friend, but for the community as well. Troiano said that her high school did a similar event, and she has been looking forward to SWAB for a “long time.”

“I just love meeting kids and making a difference with a bunch of people,” Troiano said.

The morning of

Cedar Shoals High School was a hub of activity on Sunday, Nov. 10. This year’s SWAB Event Day was “Under the Sea” themed, with fiveshifts named after ocean life to organize mentors and mentees.

The “Dolphin” shift began at 9 a.m. Children of all ages streamed into the auditorium of the highschool, met with a glittery balloon arch adorned with a purple balloon octopus and a metallic dolphin blow-up decorating the stage. A talent show livened up the attendees, and many of the mentees took to the stage to show off their various talents, including cartwheels, singing improvised songs and a push-up contest.

One of the many talents who took the stage, Antonio Foster, a third grader at Barnett Shoals Elementary, sat between his mentors and chatted with them, getting to know the UGA students. Foster came prepared with a handwritten list of what he wanted to buy during his spree, and at the top of it: a Deadpool Wolverine jacket.

Emma Register and Olivia Troiano both said that they love interacting with kids and that aspect of SWAB drew them to participate. Register said that she was looking forward to bonding with their shared mentee.

“I’m most excited to [get] to know our mentee and spending time with her,” Register said. “She said she loves shopping, so hopefully we’ll get to have some fun.”

Children continued to file into check-in at the high school, flanked by their parents and guardians, from 9 a.m. to noon. At around 10 a.m., the “Dolphin” shift’s mentors and mentees boarded big, yellow school buses to head to Walmart.

Free for all

With each elementary student’s unique list of wants and needs, the mentees and mentors set off on a fast-paced shopping trip through Walmart. The toy, clothing, school supply and beauty sections of Walmart overflowed with shopping carts and excited children.

A common scene among the group was an excited shopper picking out their next buy, and the mentees carefully budgeting and guiding their mentee throughout the shopping process. Modesty Pernett, a junior landscape architecture major at UGA, and Sophia Pigo, a sophomore biological sciences major at UGA, were mentors to Zackious Thomas, a fifth grader at J.J. Harris Elementary.

Pernett said that it was most important for her and Pigo to make sure Thomas was having fun and buying items that he wanted, but also to ensure he was buying the things he needed, too. The three laid out a game plan before embarking on the spree to make sure their goals were aligned.

“We were really good to talk about it beforehand and prepare him,” Burnett said. “I think just enforcing the budget… was what made it really successful.”

Pigo, Pernett and Thomas agreed to spend half of the budget on necessities, and the other half would go to more fun wishlist items, such as the Xbox controller he purchased at SWAB.

“I was most surprised when I realized I had enough [money] to get the things I wanted,” Thomas said.

Armed with a list of her clothing sizes, two mentors and a fierce fashion sense,Barnett Shoals Elementary first grader Aunesti Favors was on the hunt for clothes and toys during this year’s SWAB event.

For Favors, she said that she was most excited about getting new toys at the SWAB event, and that her favorite toys are Squishmallows. She also said that she loves to wear “Lilo & Stitch” clothes.

Arianna Smith, a third grader at Barnett Shoals Elementary, shared a similar mission to Favors: she wanted to buy shoes, clothes and toys. She said that her favorite toys are L.O.L. Surprise! Dolls, noted that she had a pink “Barbie” room at home and she said that she loves to wear Mickey Mouse clothes.

Wrapping up

Michael Heitman is a part-time employee at the Walmart Supercenter on Lexington Road and has been on shift for SWAB events at his store for the past three years. He said that this year’s event “seems to be bigger,” and that he thinks the event shows a soft side of the Walmart he works at.

“It shows that they do care some,” Heitman said. “They have prices pretty good, they try to make sure it works all easily, the best you can.”

Elementary students wrapped up their shopping in under an hour and headed to the front of the store to purchase their new goodies alongside their mentors. The items were placed in oversized orange and green bags, and the mentors then led their mentees to the garden center.

In the garden center, mentors and mentees had the opportunity to wrap each of the items in bright, colorful wrapping paper. From neon green paper with cupcakes printed on it to a deep gray with shark illustrations lining the paper, the options were boundless for elementary students. The mentees and mentors worked to wrap each item and tie it off with a bow on the floor of the garden section.

Zackious Thomas said that his favorite part of Christmas is being surprised by gifts that are wrapped up, and at SWAB, he was able to wrap up his new Xbox controller in shiny wrapping paper to tear open on Christmas.

The children boarded buses with their mentors and their new bag full of goodies and headed back to Cedar Shoals. The day ended with lunch, a free bag of school supplies, a free book and a new memory.

“We get to meet a kid we get to be friends with and that we can take shopping and make their day and holidays so much better,” Troiano said.