OKLAHOMA CITY — Barbara Jeffrey sat on a chair at the end of the cash register counter resting. The grandmother from Midwest City, Oklahoma was tired. She had been inside Target in Oklahoma City for more than two hours and the chemotherapy running through her body had drained much of her energy and she was having trouble speaking.

Yet, despite being out of work and battling cancer for more than a year, Jeffrey said she felt blessed as she watched her three grandchildren, who had just been treated to a shopping spree with Oklahoma City Thunder forward Steve Novak. Thanks to Novak and his wife, Jeffrey’s grandchildren got to experience Christmas this year.

“It’s the greatest blessing that I could have ever dreamed about,” Jeffrey told the Norman, Oklahoma Transcript. “I am so thankful for everyone that is involved that made this possible for me and my family. Being ill for the past year with no job, struggling. They will have a Christmas they will never forget. And I won’t ever forget the people that were involved.”

Last week the Thunder, Target and Sunbeam Family Services came together to provide 15 families a special Christmas as a part of the Thunder’s Holiday Assist Program with its eighth annual Target shopping spree. Players helped children pick out whatever they wanted for Christmas, while the Thunder Girls, the team’s cheerleaders helped grandparents pick out all of the essentials they need during this holiday season.

Jeffrey was guided around the store by a pair of Thunder Girls while her grandchildren went with Novak. Even though this was the first time he had taken part in the shopping spree, he went out of his way to make sure the children got everything they wanted.

“It was really nice,” Novak said. “To actually be with the family, go around and help them get everything that they need. Some of it was necessities. And some of it was an electric scooter and a bike — stuff when you were little you really wanted for Christmas. I think the fun part for us was getting them the video games and electric scooters.”

The families were selected from the Grandparents Raising Grandchildren program, which offers resources for men and women over 55 years of age who are raising grandchildren in the absence of their parents.

According to the Sunbeam Family Services, in the United States more than a million children are being raised by grandparents without the presence of parents in the home. This can put undue strain on the those who are either on fixed incomes or, in some cases, have no money coming in at all.

“It’s great for both sides,” Oklahoma City guard Russell Westbrook said. “The grandparents get to see their grandchildren happy, excited and having fun about what they’re doing.”

Sunbeam Family Services provided $500 for each family to spend during their shopping spree. But as has been the case each year, many of the players chipped in to make sure the Christmas was even more special.

For Novak, that meant adding $3,500 out of his pocket so that each of the kids got $1,000 and Jeffrey got $500 of her own.

“They got way more than my kids are getting,” Novak said. “There’s no doubt about it. I was joking with my wife about that. It is Christmas and you want kids to have that magic and that feeling. We wish we could do it with 100 families.

“To see that the whole team was here and that everybody was involved, it does show that we as a team get that. We have special group that was able to touch so many lives today.”

One of those lives is Michelle Betty, a grandparent in Oklahoma City raising her grandson alone. She said she had only one pair of socks and undergarments to her name before the shopping spree. Betty was able to stock up on necessities she and her grandson had been going without — including her first pair of tennis shoes in seven years.

Betty was also overwhelmed to see that her grandson was going to get things he wanted for Christmas.

“It’s a miracle and blessing,” Betty said. “I didn’t think anything like this was ever going to happen. I didn’t even have money to buy the kids presents. We haven’t had a vehicle for two months. I’ve caught rides to go to the grocery store and get medicine. I didn’t know how I was going to do Christmas. The kids love it. They are so surprised and happy.”

Kinney writes for The Norman (Oklahoma) Transcript