Shop with a Cop 2008

By Jeremy Brand

Security was tight at Lamar Wal-Mart on Saturday the 20th of December. Every where you turned there were uniformed officers. There were officers from five different agencies including the Lamar and Joplin Police Departments, Barton County Sheriff’s Office, Missouri State Highway Patrol and the Missouri Conservation Department. They were there for the Second Annual Lamar Police Department Shop with a Cop Program.

The program started at Eastside where Judy Crockett and her staff fixed breakfast for all the hungry kids and officers.

From there the kids were taken to Wal-Mart in the Oakton Church Bus (escorted by a parade of Police cars). A short time later we had a big surprise when Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus arrived in The Godfather. The Godfather is a truck that was built by the Chrome Shop Mafia in Joplin. The children cheered when they saw the truck and the passengers. The kids were then introduced to their “cop” and given a $100 Wal-Mart gift card. The children can buy anything they want for whoever they want. During the shopping the children are given the opportunity to have a picture made with Santa and Mrs. Claus and Wal-Mart printed the pictures so that each officer and child would have one to remember the event. There were some great moments with this program and the children really bond with the officer. The officer’s wives were present and helped with the shopping (could you imagine if they hadn’t) and then with the wrapping of gifts if the child wanted them wrapped. During the shopping this year people contacted officers and said they liked what they were doing and donated money to the program.

The program is funded by businesses and individuals donating money so that children can shop for Christmas presents. The children are selected by officers of the Lamar Police Department with input from teachers, Department of Family Services, BARCEDA, other law enforcement, and even sponsors. This year we expanded the program to cover all of Barton County and invited 37 kids from 18 different families. The families were also given a coupon for an Angel Food Ministries basket. The program is designed to help families that are going through a tough time and to show the children that the police that the police officers are there to help them and that they are people they can trust.