Eastern Division Hosts Children’s Christmas Party

Hortence Hernandez

The Eastern Police Division Headquarters today hosted its first ever Christmas Cheers for one hundred children from around Belize City. The children, between the ages of two and eight, were treated to the full works: food, dessert, as well as a gift for the Christmas. It’s an initiative of the Community Policing Unit of the Department and was organized by Corporal Hortence Hernandez. She says that while it’s all fun and games for the kids, the event also helps in building the relationship between the police and residents of the city.

WCP Hortence Hernandez, Organizer, Christmas Party

“We want to bring Christmas to children who we know not everybody can have that feeling, that real feeling of Christmas and we want to give children that opportunity to know and enjoy what Christmas is all about. So this was a last minute planning for us. The motion was a year ago, but the donor came up about a week ago and said I’m sponsoring this party. So we had to do planning one week before today; that was a big rough, but our aim is to target a hundred children that will walk away from here with a plate of food, a toy, a bag of goody and a cupcake and they will also get a little gift while participating in different games. The police department as you know we are in this shift that we want to change from the traditional policing to now more interacting with communities. We want to bridge this gap between community and policing. We want to have a better working relationship with our community; we want these children to know that police are not somebody you are to be afraid of as some parents tell them. We are there for them and we want to foster that kind of relationship.”