At-risk kids to get shopping spree with officers
Published: December 4, 2007
At risk youth and the children of fallen officers will go on a shopping spree with Scottsdale and Paradise Valley police officers, spending as much as $200 Dec. 15 during the 5th annual Shop with a Cop.
To help pay for the event, the Police Officers of Scottsdale Association is accepting donations from the community, said Cynthia Hill, the organization’s executive director.
Hill said she hopes to give as many as 200 children the opportunity to pair up with an officer and shop for holiday presents for themselves and their family.
Brittany Wagner, a 14-year-old who shopped with a cop last year, said when she heard she would be going on the shopping trip she knew she would be able to buy presents for her family, friends and even herself.
Robyn Wagner, Brittany’s mother, thanked the police officers for their holiday spirit and for donating their time with her children.
“I know they have families of their own,” she said.
Jim Hill, president of the police officers’ association, said his favorite part of the Shop with a Cop day is the chance to “play Santa.”
Children often only see police when something bad happens, Jim Hill said, so the program was started to try and create a bond between the children and law enforcement officers.
The program fills a need in the community for kids who otherwise would not have a Christmas, Jim Hill said, adding that the children of fallen officers was added to this year’s list is to show them that they still are “part of the law enforcement family.”
The program has a waiting list of children who want to participate, so the more donations the association receives, the more children can join in the shopping spree, Cynthia Hill said. For planning purposes, the association needs donations by Dec. 8, she added.
On Dec. 15, the children will have an early start, eating breakfast with their appointed officer at 6:30 a.m. before going to a Target department store at Loop 101 and Frank Lloyd Wright Boulevard.
Larry Scott, assistant chief for the Paradise Valley Police Department, said he became part of the program last year.
“It means so much to the kids,” said Scott, whose favorite part of the shopping day was to see the look of delight on the children’s faces as they lined up to be paired with an officer.
It made him reminisce about his own anticipation of Christmas when he was a child, Scott said.
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