Kids go shopping with local cops

The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office joined forces with several other law enforcement and emergency response agencies to have their third annual Shop With A Cop program on Thursday, Dec. 17.

The Shop With A Cop program involves law enforcement agencies donating their time to take a group of children on a Christmas shopping spree. Children are selected from local schools, and each child can use the program’s funds to buy Christmas gifts for their family members from local businesses.

To begin the event, officers from the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, Troy Police Department, Libby Police Department, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, Montana Highway Patrol and the Emergency Management Agency picked the children up from their respective schools and went to McDonald’s in Libby for a group photo and lunch.

Afterward, the children and their shopping companions split up and went to local businesses to shop for their families. 

This year, 21 children – 16 from Libby and five from Troy – were chosen to participate in the event. Deputy Brad Dodson of the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office said that in addition to the 21 on Thursday, 10 children from Eureka got to go shopping on Tuesday, Dec. 15 and 10 more Eureka children got to go on Wednesday, Dec. 16. This made for a total of 41 children.

According to Dodson, the children were each allotted approximately $50 to spend on each member of their family, and were encouraged to shop for their immediate family and to buy gifts that are practical rather than big and expensive.

“We try to stay away from Xbox stuff,” said Dodson. “We get toys too, but we try to get practical stuff first.”

Dodson also said that in addition to gifts for their families, each child got to pick out food for his or her family’s Christmas dinner as well as a personal gift for him or her to keep.

After each of the children was finished shopping, the officers and their charges took their gifts to the former Asa Wood Elementary School, where volunteers wrapped each child’s gifts for them. While their gifts were wrapped, the children got to go play in the gymnasium on an inflatable slide and bounce house.

As a bonus, the children did not have to attend school the day they went shopping.

The Shop With A Cop program required sponsorship in order to happen. Dodson said Lonnie Harmon did most of the work in getting sponsors for this year’s program. Dodson estimated that, collectively, the children got to spend over $5,000 on their relatives. He said that the Sheriff’s Office plans to host the Shop With A Cop program again in 2016.

“We’re not going to stop,” said Dodson. “It’s too good of a thing, it’s too much fun and it’s too important.”