Fifth-annual 'Shop With a Cop' the biggest one yet, organizer says
Lincoln County Sheriff’s Deputy Brandon Holzer shops with Westin Folk, 10, in Libby’s Shopko Tuesday, Dec. 19. (John Blodgett/The Western News)
Lincoln County Sheriff’s Deputy Brad Dodson helps Bentley Seefeldt, 5, shop for Christmas gifts at Shopko in Libby during Shop With a Cop Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2017. Dodson organized the annual event. (John Blodgett/The Western News)
Lincoln County Sheriff’s Deputy Brandon Holzer shops with Westin Folk, 10, in Shopko in Libby during Shop With a Cop Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2017. (John Blodgett/The Western News)
Libby Police Officer Chris Pape helps Justin Greenfield, 10, shop for Christmas gifts at Shopko in Libby during Shop With a Cop Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2017. (John Blodgett/The Western News)
Kaide Dodson, assistant principal at Libby Middle/High School, helps Bentley Seefeldt, 5, find a t-shirt for his grandfather at Shopko in Libby during Shop With a Cop Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2017. Dodson’s husband, Lincoln County Sheriff’s Deputy Brad Dodson, organized the annual event. (John Blodgett/The Western News)
Riley Orsborn, 10, of Troy talks with Troy Police Chief Katie Davis at Shopko in Libby during Shop With a Cop Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2017. (John Blodgett/The Western News)
Lincoln County Sheriff’s Deputy Brad Dodson helps Bentley Seefeldt shop for Christmas gifts at Shopko in Libby during Shop With a Cop Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2017. Dodson’s wife Kaide Dodson, left, assistant principal at Libby Middle/High School, helped shop. (John Blodgett/The Western News)
Lincoln County Sheriff’s Deputy John Hyslop serves lunch to Gavin Payne, left, 10, and Amiah Patton, 9, at McDonald’s in Libby Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2017. They were participating in Shop With a Cop. (John Blodgett/The Western News)
Lincoln County Sheriff’s Deputy Kirk Kraft escorts Aden Daniell, 7, to lunch at McDonald’s in Libby during Shop With a Cop Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2017. (John Blodgett/The Western News)
Troy Police Officer Travis Miller and his wife Dolly Miller wrap presents for family members of Faith Ray, 10, background in hat, and Talin Sykes, 10, in Asa Wood School in Libby during Shopw With a Cop Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2017. (John Blodgett/The Western News)
Tyler Simanovicki, 8, of Troy tells Carol Oedewaldt which Christmas gifts go to which family members at a wrapping station in Asa Wood School in Libby Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2017. Simanovicki was participating in Shop With a Cop with Fish, Wildlife and Parks Game Warden Taylor Rockafellow to his left. (John Blodgett/The Western News)
Lincoln County Sheriff’s Deputy Boyd White carries a bag full of Christmas gifts at Asa Wood School in Libby during Shop With a Cop Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2017. (John Blodgett/The Western News)
Law enforcement officers and volunteers wrap and move Christmas gifts at Asa Wood School in Libby during Shop With a Cop Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2017. (John Blodgett/The Western News)
Law enforcement personnel from Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, Libby and Troy police departments, Montana Highway Patrol, and Fish, Wildlife and Parks, along with volunteers, pose with the kids who participated in Shop With a Cop Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2017. (John Blodgett/The Western News)
The area’s fifth annual “Shop With a Cop” event on Tuesday was the biggest yet, serving more than 30 children and involving dozens of law enforcement personnel and volunteers.
Lincoln County Sheriff’s Deputy Brad Dodson, the event’s organizer, said they had about 33 Libby and Troy school children, more than 20 law enforcement personnel and “many more volunteers” participate.
In “Shop With a Cop,” law enforcement personnel treat children to lunch and then take them on a shopping spree. All local agencies were represented — Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, Libby and Troy police departments, Montana Highway Patrol and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks game wardens.
Thanks to community donations, the kids could buy gifts for family members and themselves.
“I think we raised over $10,000 and might have spent it all,” Dodson said.
The day began at noon with lunch at McDonald’s in Libby, where everyone posed for the traditional group photo before dispersing to shop at Libby businesses including Ace Hardware, Shopko and Libby Sports Center.
Starting about 2 p.m., cops and kids started assembling at Asa Wood School, where volunteers wrapped gifts and kids could eat hamburgers and play in bounce houses set up in the gym.
Dodson was grateful for all the support and well wishes from the community, of which he “couldn’t be more proud.”
“It’s one of the best things I do as a cop,” he said. “The kids are awesome and I hope they enjoy themselves and get positive reinforcements from it.”