Shop With A Cop Receives $4,500 In Keno Funds

Chief of Police Mark Simpson stood in front of the City Council the night of December 4, to ask for support for the Shop with a Cop program by way of a $4,500 grant.

“Before you make a decision,” he said, “I want to tell you two stories.”

Simpson went on to tell the council of a little girl who took the money given to her through the program the previous year and bought presents for all of her family, excluding herself completely.

“The whole time she kept saying, ‘I would have never been able to do this without you.’ One time, she just broke down crying. I asked her what was wrong, and she said, ‘I don’t have enough for my grandfather, and I know he would want a gift.’ I looked in the cart and not one of the presents was for her,” Simpson said.

Simpson also recounted a story of a man who gave all he could spare to the program.

“I had a gentleman come off the street, and he put out his hand and said, ‘I want to give you something.’ I put my hand out and he dumped a bunch of quarters into my hand, and he said, ‘I don’t have much, but I want to give all I have to Shop with a Cop.’ He gave me twenty-five dollars’ worth of quarters. I was just blown away by that,” Simpson said.

Simpson emphasized the importance of the program to the community.

“Shop with a Cop is all about the cops, the firefighters, the EMTs, and the deputy sheriffs getting to know the children and them getting to know us and them giving as the Christmas spirit is to give. It is a magical thing,” Simpson said.

The sentiment of giving was not lost on the council, especially newly appointed Council President Kim Christensen.

“Of all the projects we have donated Keno money to, this one has the spirit of Kimball in mind and it is something that has represented what our community has always been. I’d rather spend money here than on anything else,” Christensen said.

A motion was approved to give the full amount of the grant money requested to the Shop with a Cop program ensuring that the program would be able to give Kimball kids the chance to give selflessly to those they care about on Christmas for another year.