BAKER- East Baton Rouge Parish Deputy John DePedro and his wife Dawn were planning a small Christmas for their two young children this year. They were hit hard in the flood and don't have a lot of money for presents.

"We're living in a FEMA trailer and have a 1-foot Christmas tree," he said. "We were just going to spend Christmas as a family and try to rebuild."

The DePedro's are like hundreds of first responder families in the Capital region. When the flood hit, they put their personal disasters aside and served the public.

"That's what we do, we help the citizens," said DePedro.

It's for that reason, the DePedro's got some payback. Michael Kruggel with the law enforcement group LEO Only surprised DePredro's two young children Monday with a Christmas shopping spree at Walmart.

"They lost everything in the flood," said Kruggel. "They have a 12-year-old and a 7-year-old who literally don't have anything and now we're able to help the family out."

Both children got about $300 and they took their time picking out toys. As their father watched, his eyes swelled up with tears.

"It just shows you how deep the unity and brotherhood really is," he said.

The DePedro's filled up two shopping carts and donated the rest of the money to other law enforcement families.