Plans are underway for the 2012 Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office Shop with a Cop program. Shop with a Cop is a joint venture between local law enforcement agencies throughout Deschutes County and local Wal-Mart stores. Its primary focus is to help make the holidays a little brighter for less-fortunate families and provide an opportunity for children to engage in positive police interaction.
The dates for this year’s events are:
Tuesday, December 18,
Redmond Wal-Mart,
~1-5pm.
Wednesday, December 19,
Redmond Wal-Mart,
~1-5pm.
Thursday, December 20,
Bend Wal-Mart,
~1-5pm.
This year will be the twelfth year this event has taken place. The program has come a long way since its inception in 2001 when just 20 school-aged students went shopping and the $1,500 in donations came from employees at the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office.
Thanks to the generosity of Deschutes County citizens and local businesses, last year they were able to shop for 117 school-aged children (grades 1-12) from schools in Deschutes County including shopping for approximately 550 family members.
Students are picked up by officers at their respective schools and driven to Wal-Mart where they enjoy a “one-on-one” shopping experience with their uniformed partner. While gifts are being wrapped, the students are treated to lunch, donated by the in-store McDonald’s restaurants.
Although Shop with a Cop is overseen and coordinated by the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office, its continued success stems from the participation of officers from the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office, police departments throughout Deschutes County, the Oregon State Police and U.S. Forest Service and BLM law enforcement.
Information only hotline number: 541-550-4880.
