More than 40 children buy Christmas gifts through 'Shop with a Cop'

Children bundled in coats were ushered into the fire hall before the sun had a chance to rise last Saturday morning. The children and their parents were greeted by warm smiles and a hot breakfast that would serve as their fuel for their morning of shopping.

These children participated in the annual Shop with a Cop program. The idea of Shop with a Cop is to help children and families in need during the Christmas season. On the day of the shopping adventure, the children's parents take them to the fire hall, where they are fed a large breakfast. After breakfast, Santa Claus hands out gift cards pre-loaded with the amount of $100 for the children to spend on Christmas gifts for themselves and for their families.

Once Santa was finished handing out gift cards, the children were divided into groups of two to three children with one adult available to help. Members of the Kimball Police Department, Kimball County Sheriff's Office, Kimball Volunteer Fire Department, KVFD Ladies Auxiliary, EMTs and ambulance crew were all present to help with the annual event.

The children and emergency personnel all piled into various emergency vehicles and headed in a long procession to Shopko, where the children were going to do their shopping. A group photo was taken to commemorate the experience and after the last shutter click, the children and the adult they were assigned to took off into the store.

The children wandered around through the store, finding gifts for their families. Each adult was in charge of keeping track of what the children were spending so that they did not go over their gift card limit.

Forty-seven children were invited to participate in the Fourth Annual Shop with a Cop event and 42 participated. The elementary school counselor sent letters home with the children earlier in the year for the parents to fill out if they chose to do so. The returned letters went through a review process and the children were selected based on their family's need.

"This year we tried to spread it around better and children were chosen who hadn't participated before," said Darlene "Shortie" Kiefer, Shop with a Cop coordinator.

In addition to the children getting $100 for gifts, the families received $50 on a gift card to Main Street Market.

"It was really wonderful, Panhandle Coop donated 10 gift cards to the program so those went to families to help buy food," Kiefer said.

Over 30 volunteers helped out on the actual day of the event, which was a lot more than last year according to Kiefer.

More than $7,000 dollars was donated to the event. In the past, the funds were used to pay the utility bills of some families in need. This year, however, those funds instead went to the gift cards for groceries.

"We wanted to do this so that they could get food and eat, we thought that would be beneficial," Kiefer said.

At the end of the shopping extravaganza the children rode back to the fire hall, where members of the Ladies Auxiliary assisted them in wrapping the gifts they had just purchased.

The Shop with a Cop event really makes a difference in the lives it touched during the holiday season, Kiefer said. However, it would not be possible without the support from the community.

"We want to make sure we can do this every year so we are raising money year round, not just during Christmas," Kiefer said.

Anyone can make donations to the Shop with a Cop fund at any time during the year. There is an account set up for the Kimball Shop with a Cop program at FirsTier Bank. The donations make it possible for more children and families in the Kimball community to be helped each year.

"We really appreciate everything the community has done for this event, it's definitely made this year's Shop With a Cop the best one yet." Kiefer said.