Stanford hosts largest Shop with a Cop event yet
Published 12:40 pm Thursday, December 13, 2018
Lancaster Police Officer Robbie Tudor escorts a kid down the toy aisle during Saturday's Shop with a Cop event in Stanford.
Timothy and Amber Yocum look at toys with Stanford Police Officer Ray Sayre during Saturday's Shop with a Cop event.
Jameson Bo, a Garrard County Police Officer, gives a kid a ride in the cart during the annual Shop With a Cop event.
Lincoln County Constable Delbert Mitchell enjoys a cookie and a juice box with a kid during the annual Shop WIth a Cop Event.
Photos by Abigail Whitehouse Lincoln County Constable Delbert Mitchell helps carry toys during the annual Shop with a Cop event.
Caleb Clemmons, 7, visits with Santa Clause during Saturday's Shop with a Cop event.
Stanford Police Officer Ray Sayre helps Amber Yocum make a final toy decision.
Officers stand in line to purchase toys for kids during the annual Shop with a Cop event.
Stanford Police Officer Chase Marcum helps pick out a pair of shoes during the Christmas event called Shop With a Cop.
Mrs. Garrard County Fair Leah Middleton visits with three-year-old Kase Chaney, who donated the monetary value of his Shop With A Cop experience to the Kentucky Children's Hospital.
Police cars line the front of Walmart during the annual Shop With a Cop Christmas event.
Stanford Police officer Johnny Williams helps four-year-old Kyndal Denson pick out a baby doll.
Local 18-year-old donates year worth of gifts
STANFORD – More than 70 kids were treated to an early Christmas, and the chance to shop with a local police officer, during Saturday’s annual Shop with a Cop event.
Children from Lincoln, Garrard and Boyle Counties were paired with an officer as they made their way through the toy and clothes sections of Walmart.
Tim Morris, a Stanford Police Detective, said this year’s event was the biggest yet, with many new elements.
Walmart sponsored a Cram the Cruiser campaign this year, Morris said, and management and employee staff also sponsored several children for the event.
A quilting circle in Lancaster also made and donated five quilts to be given to infants in the area, Morris said.
This year, Garrard County and Lancaster officers also joined in on the fun.
“It’s been a great turn out by officers,” Morris said Saturday.
The Shop with A Cop event is one that officers look forward to each year. Morris said he has trouble sleeping the night before the event because of the excitement.
Seeing the smiles on children’s faces makes it all worthwhile, he said.
For Stanford Police Officer Chase Marcum, the experience is a humbling one.
“I enjoy being able to participate in it every year and being able to help parents provide a Christmas for their children,” Marcum said. “It’s a way to show the children that we (law enforcement) are people too, and like to have just as much fun as they do. Most of us are big kids at heart.”
Shop with a Cop is another way for local law enforcement to have a positive interaction with the citizens of the county, Marcum said, and allows citizens to get to know officers on a more personal level.
A total of 72 kids celebrated with officers Saturday but before they left Walmart, they got to choose from one more pile of gifts.
Bailey Adams, an 18-year-old Eastern Kentucky University Student and Lincoln County native, spent all year collecting toys to give away during the event.
This was the third year Adams collected the toys but this year, she said she received several donations and was able to purchase about 150 toys.
“I just know that there’s a lot of kids that don’t have toys,” she said. “I don’t think any kid should wake up on Christmas morning and have nothing under their tree.”
