CULLMAN – On Saturday morning, several area kids were rounded up at the Cherokee Avenue Chick-fil-A and transported from the scene by Cullman Police. It's okay, though. They were on their way to Wal-Mart to take part in the Cullman Police Department's (CPD) fourth annual "Shop with a Cop" day. After breakfast, officers took the kids over to the department store for an all-expenses-paid shopping spree, then returned to Chick-fil-A for lunch, where their families picked them up.
According to CPD spokesman, Sgt. Adam Clark, who helped introduce this program to Cullman in 2013, around 15 officers and volunteers took part, with eight students there to shop. In addition to those eight, volunteers shopped for other children who couldn't come, as well as clients of the Margaret Jean Jones Center and local nursing homes, on both Friday and Saturday. In all, nearly 40 people have been served by the program this year.
The kids were chosen for this program by school counselors, and represent a broad demographic spectrum, from children of families facing long-term poverty, to foster kids, to families a little better off who have just suffered recent setbacks that have turned the idea of a happy Christmas into a difficult challenge. Some kids come from backgrounds in which family contact with law enforcement has usually been negative.
Clark said, "They just need a good experience with a police officer."
This day is just for the kids. Parents can talk to officers and set certain limits on the kinds of things to purchase, but at the store the kids leave parents behind and get to be in charge of their own shopping. Officers and volunteers accompany the children to help them pick out gifts, getting clothes and toys off high racks and making sure games are age-appropriate. The CPD spent $250-300 on each kid, of which at least $50 had to be clothing.
Even in a moment of need, many of the participants demonstrated their own generosity. On several occasions at Wal-Mart, children were overheard asking if they could buy gifts for family members or friends. Officers reminded them that this was their day. To keep things fair within families, CPD makes sure that if one child is selected from a family, all that child's siblings are invited to participate as well.
"Shop with a Cop" is not just a Christmas program, either. With program funds, CPD has helped local residents through the year with matters like utilities and needed appliances.
"We like to keep $1,000 to $2,000 in there so if, throughout the year, somebody needs something, we can buy it," Clark related. "We'll find somebody at church that's in need, that needs help paying their electric bill or whatever. We'll go by and pay their electric bill for three months."
When asked why the CPD decided to get into the "Shop with a Cop" program, Clark responded, "I just think that when you leave this world, the big question is ‘Did you make a difference?’ and I think that's what each and every one of these people is doing here today. They're trying to make a difference in these kids' lives, and that's what's important."
One mother, whose child was invited after the family recently suffered a tragic loss, got the last word about CPD and "Shop with a Cop": "This means the world to me right now. It's amazing."
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