The annual Shop with a Cop event will take place on Saturday, December 18 where some children in the local area will be given the opportunity to Shop with a Cop for the Christmas holiday. This event has been going on for many years and the officers enjoy it as much as the children do.
“This year we’ve changed up some things that we’re doing a little bit with our breakfast, in the past we have done it or used the Tuscan Event Center but they are remodeling and not able to do that. So USU Eastern has graciously allowed us to use the Jennifer Leavitt Student Center for our breakfast and so we’re going to have all the kids meet there along with the officers at 9:00 am on Saturday morning. We’re going to have breakfast that has been donated and provided by McDonalds,” stated Program Coordinator, Sgt. Kelly Maynes. The children will enjoy their breakfast before loading up in the patrol cars for an escorted ride down to Walmart to do their holiday shopping.
“The way we go about selecting the kids at least for the most part, a lot of times we go through places like the United Way or through the school district to try to find kids that are really in need and can really be helped by this program. One thing that I do at our department is I send out a thing to all our patrol officers, they’re responding to houses all day long, going to things to, hey if you come across any families that you think would be a good fit, that this would be program that would really help them out, let me know. Pretty much, most of the kids from Price City Police this year were all through recommendations from our officers that came in,” said Sgt. Maynes. This yearly event is held with the hopes of making the holiday season brighter for the children participating in the program. This year’s shopping event will assist around 50 children from the area.
The program organizers try to get every law enforcement agency in the area to be a part of this wonderful event. Those agencies include Price City Police, Carbon County Sheriff’s Department, Helper City Police, Wellington City Police, East Carbon City Police, the Utah Highway Patrol, and Adult Probation and Parole. “One of the big things is we couldn’t do this program without all the sponsors that we get. You know we get a good grant through Walmart through the community grant system. We also get a grant from the Utah Civilian Police Association. Like I mentioned McDonalds, USU Eastern. This year we also had quite a few private donations that came in, which is just awesome. Our community never ceases to amaze me with out they step up for things like this,” said Sgt. Maynes. Any individuals that wish to make a donation towards the Shop with a Cop program can do so at the PCPD office at 910 North 700 East or by calling them at (435) 636-3000.