VALDOSTA — The firefighter asked, “Who wants to go shopping?”

A roomful of children shouted “MEEE!!!”

Thus began an evening of fun and an early Christmas for several children who otherwise might have found an empty stocking this year.

The annual Shop With a Firefighter campaign took several children whose families would not have been able to afford a very merry Christmas and took them to the Walmart on Norman Drive for a shopping spree.

The annual project of the Valdosta Fire Department has been running for at least 15 years, said Valdosta Fire Department Battalion Chief James Clinkscales.

About 15 children were taken to the Walmart, where a fire truck was parked outside. They were escorted inside to an employee training room where treats, juice packs and Santa Claus were waiting for them.

After a few minutes of singing Christmas carols with the jolly old elf, each child was paired with a firefighter and taken out into the store, where they were given $200 gift cards and allowed to shop to their hearts’ content.

One little boy wanted to buy video game paraphernalia, although at first he and his mother couldn’t remember which game system he owned (It turned out to be a handheld Nintendo 3DS). The boy settled on a Lego Dimensions “Knight Rider” pack.

Elsewhere in the store, two firefighters struggled to pull a bicycle out of a mounting rack for another child to try out.

The event was paid for by donations, Clinkscales said.

Terry Richards is senior reporter at The Valdosta Daily Times.