The annual Shop with a Cop event will take place on Saturday, December 17 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 yearly event is held with the hopes of making the holiday season brighter for the children participating in the program. Eligible children are often paired with an officer the morning of the event where they enjoy breakfast from the local McDonalds Restaurant and this year the breakfast is being held at USU Eastern Dining Services. 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 event is currently seeking applicants for the program as they do have some openings at this time. “Typically, the way it works is we have pretty much all of the law enforcement agencies in Carbon County will be involved with it. So there’s obviously Price City Police, we kind of oversee it; Carbon County Sheriff’s Department, Helper Police, Wellington Police, East Carbon Police, the Highway Patrol, as well as, Adult Probation and Parole will be all the agencies involved in it. It typically falls on the agencies themselves to select the kids that they are going to take for their agency. Right as it sits right now, I’m still trying to figure out where the funding is at as to how many kids, we’ll be able to take so we don’t know that for certain right now. But I’d rather people call and talk to me a little bit about it rather than not,” stated Program Coordinator, Sgt. Kelly Maynes. The Shop with a Cop event is open to under-served children in the Carbon County area.
If there are residents that would like to help with this year’s program you can make a monetary donation at the Price City Utility Office. “So a few years back we set up an account through Price City Utility Office that anybody can donate any time of year with Shop with a Cop. It’s something that is tax deductible as well, so you get a receipt from the Utility Office. This program itself is fully funded off a donations and grant funding. This year I’m hoping that we’ll have a little bit more than we had last year. It is always a little bit of a struggle because if I could figure out a way to get money to take every kid in our community, I’d love to do it. But it just not feasible, and it’s just not out there for us to do that, but I’m hoping to have a little bit more funds than what we did last year. One thing about our area that is always outstanding is how well our community steps up to help people in need and I’ve always been amazed by that all the year that I’ve lived here and all the years I’ve been in law enforcement its just amazing how well that works,” said Sgt. Maynes. The program would not be possible without its sponsors Walmart, McDonalds, USU-Eastern Dining Services, Price City Utility Office, and Utah Police Civilian Association.
If you would like to nominate a child for the Shop with a Cop program or have questions about the event, please call Price City Police at (435) 636-3000.