The holidays are a time of joy, wonder, love, gifts, family time and fun for so many families around Hastings. But what if your family was one that could not afford to celebrate? What if you could not afford to buy your kids any presents? Or what if you just need a little help to get them something more special? This is where a variety of charities and businesses step in and help out.

One of those businesses is Country Financial. Country Financial has offices all across the USA. Being a national company, they have the ability to give back to communities on a bigger scale. Country Financial has a program they call “Operation Helping Heroes”.

“Operation Helping Heroes enables us to partner with the community and bring events like this to life,” explained Mandy Bremer, owner of the Country Financial office in Hastings. “That’s what enabled us to do today’s event and have the funding to support it.”

The event referenced by Bremer is the Shop with a Cop that was held at SC Toys in downtown Hastings. SC Toys is a toy store at 212 Second Street East, and it is owned by Barb Hollenbeck.

“This is a phenomenal event to do, to be able to give struggling families really great gifts for the holidays. That just shows that big sense of community that Hastings is known for,” explained Hollenbeck.

SC Toys has been around for quite some time, featuring toys for people aged 3-99. Most of the toys are geared toward the under 14 crowd, but there are some things for those a tad older.

“We have some things for kids 13-14, but most are geared toward the younger kids. That is really where the foundation of learning happens, when they are in their preschool years. We like to provide them with really great toys to help that development, especially in becoming a creative person,” added Hollenbeck.

SC Toys has a higher quality of toys than you may find in the big box stores or online. The higher quality means that you get a toy that not only last longer but provides a better experience for the kids that play with them. That better experience translates into more time playing with the toy and learning more from the interaction. It does mean the cost of the toy is a little higher than you will see at the big box stores, but the added longevity and enhanced learning are worth the few extra bucks. Add the experience of Hollenbeck and her staff to help guide and focus the kids as they shop, and you will quickly see the miniscule additional cost is worth shopping local.

That made the store the perfect spot for Country Financial to help some local families with their Christmas needs. Community engagement officer Whitney Rinowski was the representative from the Hastings Police Department. Froth and Cork, along with Lock and Dam Eatery, contributed coffee and snacks for the families and Country Financial took care of the bill at the end of the day.

How were the local families selected?

“I had a campaign on Facebook, and we asked for nominations from the community. We wanted to keep families local here to Hastings and really identifying those who had the greatest need and had the most nominations,” Bremer explained.

Country Financial has donated over four million dollars for this program since 2020. Across the nation local insurance agents have had the opportunity to give back to the communities that support them.

There was a bit of a trick involved, though. Kids that have never been in SC Toys get a little overwhelmed from the huge selection packed into a 1400 square foot store. But there seems to be a long-term favorite toy that kids cannot resist.

“A broom,” laughed Hollenbeck.

“Are you serious?” someone said hearing the answer.

“Yes,” said Hollenbeck. “Because when the kids get to a certain age up to about threeyears-old, they want to mimic Mom and Dad and what they are doing. What do they see mom and dad doing? Cleaning. So, they gravitate towards what they know. They have a home broom at the house but the handles five feet tall. So, I have one that’s three feet, this broom is a helper.”

Sure enough, three different kids in an hours’ time found the broom and started playing with it, but it is unclear if they took the broom home.

In all, roughly $1,600 in toys were purchased for the event and families went home happy.

Chase, Abby and Serina Swanda discuss their plan of attack for shopping at SC Toys for the Country Financial Shop with a Cop event. Photo by Bruce Karnick

One of the families paused shopping to take a picture with the Country Financial Representatives and Officer Whitney Rinowski for the Shop with a Cop event at SC Toys. Left to right. Al, Mandy Bremer, Emi Bremer, Jaymison, Ashley Nicole, Officer Whitney Rinowski. Photo by Bruce Karnick