It may have been cold – it IS December, after all, but there’s a pretty good chance that area law enforcement officers and 47 youngsters in the community felt nice and warm on the inside during the annual “Shop with a Cop” event this week.
Henderson Police Chief Marcus Barrow said individuals representing the police department, sheriff’s office, fire department, highway patrol, animal control and park rangers got to shop with children at Walmart in Henderson.
“We got to see some kids that we interacted with throughout the year,” Barrow said on Thursday’s TownTalk. One child had a special request to shop with an officer who was working a shift, but Barrow said they were able to make some adjustments in the schedule to grant the child’s request.
“He was able to shop with that kid – it was heartwarming,” Barrow said.
In all, the bill came to about $8,000, and that’s after Walmart generously knocked a little bit off the final tally, Barrow said.
In years past, law enforcement agencies have worked in partnership with the local Chamber of Commerce to raise money for the spending spree, but it just didn’t happen this year. Chalk it up to the residual pandemic restrictions and the strain on law enforcement agencies to provide adequate staffing.
“We look forward to partnering with them next year,” Barrow said.
In the meantime, it was important to keep the event alive, so that’s what they did.
It’s a time to let children be children and roam up and down the toy aisles. But it was sobering for Barrow to see some of the older kids get everyday items like hygiene products.
“We want them to think of themselves,” Barrow said. The adults usually steer the kids to clothing items, including coats, during the shopping spree.
But many of the children also wanted to pick out gifts for their parents or other family members, too.
Sometimes, the gift is in the giving, not in the receiving.
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