Shopping spree hits Target

Volunteers teamed up with kids Tuesday morning in Burbank and Glendale to help them buy new shoes, clothes and supplies for school at Target.

The fourth annual shopping spree at the Empire Center was part of a partnership between Target and the Salvation Army, for which the national retailer gives $1 million in gift cards for 12,000 children and teens.

Each participant was given an $80 gift card to spend in one hour with Disney employees and members of Burbank Sunrise Rotary and Noon Kiwanis.

Lt. Kari Rudd of the Burbank Salvation Army said parents are kept from the event so the children are free to “get what they want, what they like.”

Disney employee Cindy Lopez helped 8-year-old Mason Tovar find the right pair of tan cargo shorts to go with bright orange and green T-shirts he picked out.

Katie Mena, 14, and Maria Tovar, 15, picked out identical shorts, tops and sandals.

In the shoe department, Kathy Young and Kevin Deegan of Hope 4 Hollywood taught 9-year-old Wilner Palma how to tie his laces on a new pair of Star Wars shoes.

After checking out, Rudd told Young, “The fact that he's smiling — he never smiled until literally about a month and a half ago. He needed some love.”