CULLMAN, Ala. – For six years, the Cullman Police Department (CPD) has reached out to children around the community who might need a little extra cheer at Christmas through its “Shop with a Cop” program, and Saturday morning saw officers and their young friends descend once more on Walmart to load carts with clothing, toys, games, craft items and other goodies.
Sgt. Adam Clark, who oversees the program, told The Tribune, “This is our sixth year for Shop with a Cop and, basically, we raise money throughout the year. Our biggest thing is a fundraiser that’s done by the Jack Aces Motorcycle Club. We use the money, not only for Shop with a Cop, but we have community cookouts-just stuff we do for the community. But our big event is, of course, Shop with a Cop, which this year, we’re taking 14 or 15 kids today, but we’re providing for 34 individuals and families this year, for Christmas for them.”
Students were recommended for the program by local school officials and CPD officers, and the department also shopped for clients at the Margaret Jean Jones Center.
Grace Chapel joins the cause
The CPD formerly met the kids at the Chick-Fil-A near Walmart, but the large crowd of children, officers and volunteers has become hard to fit into the restaurant during its breakfast time, so Clark jumped at an offer to relocate the location for drop-off, breakfast, lunch and pickup to recently relocated Grace Chapel on Main Avenue.
Grace Chapel’s Sherry Davis told The Tribune, “The church is relatively new to this area of the community. We’ve been in Cullman, but just refurbished this building and moved in in October. One of our members, Kevin Binkowski, contacted Adam through the police department to see if there was some way we could help them, be of service to them in this community. Adam mentioned Shop with a Cop, that they had been meeting at Chick-Fil-A, which was very crowded, hard to keep everybody corralled and a little bit chaotic. So we offered to host here, and this will be our first year of doing that. The policemen will meet here, have breakfast, coffee, meet with the kids, take them shopping and then come back here for lunch afterward.
“We’re just so excited to be part of Shop with a Cop. It’s a wonderful program. We’re so excited to be a part of the community and offer help any way we can, and just hope to find other areas to serve in the community.”
Thanks to contributions from the community, the department was able to shop with a budget of more than $200 per child. Each one got personal help choosing clothing before, of course, heading to the toys. It is not unusual for kids to have to be reminded that these gifts are for them; many want to use the money to shop for other members of their families.
Once they finished shopping, officers, volunteers and kids returned to Grace Chapel for lunch. Afterward, officers returned to CPD headquarters to sort and bag the purchases. This coming week, parents will be able to come by and pick up the packages to take home and wrap for Christmas. The police enjoy doing the shopping, but they want the kids’ parents to do the giving.
The event serves a dual purpose: to bring a little Christmas cheer to children and families in the community who might have trouble finding it on their own, and to give kids a chance to interact with law enforcement officers in a low-stress and high-fun environment.
Clark told The Tribune previously, “We really want this to be a one-on-one with the officer, as much as possible, so the kid has a good experience with the police officer. Our goal is to make sure these kids have a positive outlook on the officers. We just want them to know us as regular human beings, not just police officers. We are here to help them; it’s what we’re here for.”
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