Union County Deputies Bringing Christmas Joy to Elgin Kids
By Shannon Weidemann (McKone) on Friday, December 23rd, 2022 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
ELGIN – The sheriff’s Office is always there to keep Union County safe, be it responding to crimes or conducting search and rescue efforts. However, local deputies are just as likely, if not eager, to step up and spread a bit of extra Christmas joy during the holidays, and that is exactly what they did for three Elgin students.
For four years, Union County Sheriff’s Deputies based in Elgin have hosted a community outreach program for students and families in the Elgin School District. Students in need of support or that have had tough times in the past are selected and get to spend the day Christmas shopping for their families, and pick out a little something for themselves, with the help of the deputies. Office staff and other volunteers also assist in wrapping the gifts for the kids to take home.
This year, three students from the same family were selected and, according to deputies Brad Bell and Morris Capers, the scene was nothing short of heartwarming:
“In my opinion it went very well. The kids had a blast. They said that they had a really fun time. The girl that I had said that she ‘doesn’t really get to do this very often, go shopping,’ so I thought that was really special for her to go shop for her family,” noted Bell.
The student Capers was paired with not only had a good time but wanted to make the most of the day for his family above all, hesitating to even think about picking up a gift for himself despite it being part of the program. As Capers described:
“The kid I had, I think it was special that the primary focus for him was everybody else in his family and not him. He had a hard time trying to justify getting something for himself, so he continued to pick items for his family members.”
In addition to the individual reactions from the students, deputies also reflected on how enjoyable it was to see the kids genuinely get into the holiday spirit and get to do something nice for their families with no strings attached. For students in the program, days like this are not always possible. As Bell further described:
“My favorite part is honestly just, while you’re at the stores, watching the kid pick out something because these kids don’t get to do this often. It’s kind of hard to see a kid not get to do this every year because that’s what Christmas is all about, right? It’s pretty special to watch them look around, pick out things for their family and then also pick out things for themselves which they normally don’t get to do.”
In a way, the outreach program is also an opportunity for the deputies as they can find a form of reprieve in helping the community in a proactive way instead of responding to an emergency. As Capers stated:
“Just the community interactions that we have, the whole community policing where we go out and do more than just write tickets and what not… I think for me, being out in the community and helping families and not responding to a call for service per say, that’s special. Just being able to help kids and take kids away from school and give them a fun opportunity.”
And be it writing tickets or giving some local kids an exclusive Christmas shopping experience, the Union County Sheriff’s Office is doing all they can to ensure a fun, safe and memorable holiday for everyone.
