By ELENA CRISTIANO - For the North County Times | Posted: Sunday, December 13, 2009 8:55 pm |
Fire Capt. Chris Bowden, 34, helps 17-month-old Zoe Swanigan choose a toy with her mother, Courtney Swanigan, as Vista firefighters take kids from Operation Homefront, a program that helps military families, Christmas shopping at the Vista Walmart. (Photo John Koster - For The North County Times)
VISTA ---- Hundreds of military families around San Diego County are getting a much-needed boost this month in the form of a holiday meal and a shopping spree thanks to Operation Homefront's Adopt-a-Family Program.
But for a couple of lucky families, the experience got an extra special spark on Sunday.
Two members of the United States Navy, both who have served for more than a decade, and their wives and children also got to spend the afternoon with their adopters ---- the staff of the Vista Fire Department's Wildwood Station.
They checked out the station, went shopping for gifts, then headed back for dinner with the firefighters and some of the firefighter's own family members.