The 13th year of Shop with a Cop
By Paul Hall on Tuesday, November 30th, 2021 in Featured Stories Northeastern Oregon News
LA GRANDE – (Release from the La Grande Police Department) Lieutenant Jason Hays of the La Grande Police Department gave an update on this year’s Shop with A Cop. This year’s event will be held at Walmart on December 9th at 11AM. 15 kids have been selected from our local schools in grades 1-6. The kids are selected by school staff and provided to me. I meet with all of the selected kids’ parents/guardians and have them sign two waivers. One is for us to have their child for the SWC event and the other is a media release waiver so you all can use their photos if you choose to do so.
On the day of the event, Officers will be going to each of the schools and pick up the kids and then be driven to Walmart (arriving at 11AM). Once at Walmart, each child will be paired up with a uniformed police officer from LGPD, UCSO and OSP. Once the selected child is paired with their officer, they will get $150 to spend buying Christmas presents for their immediate family. The officers will also treat their child to lunch and their Christmas presents will be wrapped by volunteers.
This year’s event is made possible by Walmart, Loveland’s Funeral Home, Dominos Pizza, Coca-Cola and local citizens who give generously to our program throughout the year. This is the 13th year doing this program and it continues to be my favorite event. This is a unique program because it lets the child buy Christmas presents for their family in a fun environment while getting to spend quality one-on-one time with a police officer. This is an event where everyone involved is positively impacted. Without our local support from businesses and citizens, the Shop With a Cop event would not exist. Approximately 35 volunteers help with this program each year; including (but not limited to): Officers/Troopers/Deputies from LGPD, UCSO and OSP, 911 Dispatchers, Clerical Staff, Retired Police Officers, Department Chaplains, Animal Enforcement, Code Enforcement and family members of police officers.
Police Officers really enjoy this program and enjoy seeing the smiles that this program brings to the selected students. It is also a way for these children to spend time with a police officer and find that police officers are fun loving people who can be trusted and are safe people to go to if needed. Simply put, this program brings joy to everyone involved! Anyone interested in donating to the Shop With a Cop program can do so by contacting Carla Greenough at the La Grande Police Department (1109 K Avenue, La Grande, OR 97850 – Phone: 541.963.1017).
