Students from the McAllen Independent School District went on a big shopping spree as part of the Heroes and Helpers program.

Target and the McAllen Police Department teamed up for the program. The kids were treated to a $100 gift card and Santa made a special appearance, arriving by helicopter, to greet the 45 children participating in the event.

"Targets grants those kids the opportunity to shop, in this case for as much as a $100. Each one of them is going to shop for whatever they want, in most cases that is Christmas for those kids," Police Chief Victor Rodriguez said.

The managers of Target stores hope to add more children to the program each year.