Manchester Kids Participate in Shop With A Cop

Nick Castro and Deputy Lowe check out the toy aisle.

Christmas came early this year for sixteen Manchester kids.  On Tuesday, they were invited to “Shop With A Cop” at the Meijer store on Jackson Road in Ann Arbor.  This year’s event was organized by Sgt. Keith Flores of the Washtenaw County Sheriff Department. With the help of many volunteers and donors,  85 children, ages 5 – 12, from Manchester, Dexter, Chelsea, and Whitmore Lake went on a shopping spree.

Olivia and Elle Wilson with their volunteers, Alex and Deputy Sharrock.

The program started in 2002 as a way to give back to the community and reach out to kids in need.  The children are generally selected by referrals from social workers and counselors and are given a wonderful opportunity to purchase Christmas gifts for themselves and family members.  Additionally, it is a very positive experience with law enforcement officers and occasionally the Sheriff’s Department invites a child not based on financial need, but because a deputy personally wishes to encourage or mentor the child.  There was a mixture of both at this event from Manchester this year.

It takes a lot of volunteers to make this event happen. This year, the Shop With A Cop Program (west Washtenaw) involved Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Deputies (including Manchester’s own Deputy Lowe), Chelsea and Northfield Police Departments and volunteers from the Dexter Schools, family members of officers, the UM Tennis team, the UM Dance team and members of UM’s Delta Delta Delta sorority donating their time.

Haley Castro had her face painted with a dolphin.

After being signed in at the door, each child was paired with an officer/volunteer for the entire evening.  The child was given a Shop With A Cop t-shirt to wear during the event (for identification purposes) and a name tag.  Each officer/volunteer also wore a name tag with the name of the child that they had been paired with.  There was face painting, visits with Santa, balloon animals, Colors the Clown, arts & crafts, and cookie decorating for the first hour.

Dinner was provided for all children and volunteers.

After being treated to pizza for dinner, the children and their volunteers descended upon the shopping floor to spend a whopping $100 gift card from Meijer.  Many children purchased items for the entire family, but were strongly encouraged to purchase for themselves first.  Sgt. Flores explained that this program is “to get less fortunate kids a Christmas that they may not have.”  One young girl asked her volunteer if she could buy a bike with her money.  She was beyond ecstatic when she was told that she could.  She had never owned a bike before.

Meijer employees cleared the stock room to create space for the event. Counting children, volunteers, and media there was nearly 200 people present for the event. The store director, Ben Negron, indicated that the space where the tables were set up is normally full of skids of merchandise. Many employees helped to move the stock onto the floor in preparation.

Meijer’s is the largest sponsor of the event, but many businesses and individuals donated to this wonderful program.  Meijer donated $10,000 and a number of their employees volunteered for the event.  Ben Negron, the store director, indicated that the “team members are very excited to have this event.  Team members started asking in early November what we’re going to do for this event.”

Elle Wilson peruses the game aisle with Deputy Sharrock.

According to Negron, “Meijer wants not only to be a good merchant in the communities that we serve, but a good neighbor in the communities that we serve.  This is our way of being a good neighbor during a time that a lot of people are hurting.  For a lot of kids, this is their Christmas.”

The Meijer Corporation gives every store a purse of funds to give away.  As an organization, Meijer gives back 6% of their net earnings.  It is the store director’s job to find worthy organizations to which to give the money, not necessarily their job to find each participant.  He leaves that to the organization and the schools.  Ben said, “I just want to have fun giving the money away.”

Olivia Wilson reaches for the Furby on the top shelf with the help of her volunteer, Alex.

Sgt. Flores earmarked $8,000 of the Meijer donation specifically for the $100 gift cards for each child.  The remaining $2,000 plus generous donations from numerous other companies and individuals rounded out the evening for the children to provide entertainment and the essentials to wrap the gifts.  The LaFontaine Automotive Group, the Rotary Club, Running Fit, and the Lion’s Club are among the many donors that have given repeatedly to the program.  Sgt. Flores expressed his gratitude by saying, “I can’t tell you how excited I was this year.  The donors really came through.”

Ashely Castro shops for her family with Deputy Rick Kaledas.

These donations made this year’s event better than the last, but more donations are needed.  Last year Sgt. Flores indicated that kids bought hats and gloves and one child even bought a gas card for their dad with their money.  This year, he did as much as he could to provide necessities so that the kids could focus on the fun, happy things.  In addition to the $100 gift card, each child received a backpack with a stocking, a letter from Santa, restaurant gift cards and coupons for free kid’s meals, a gas card, a blanket, hat, and gloves for each child.

Sgt. Flores purchased the restaurant gift cards intentionally to allow the family to spend time together.  Extra gift cards like these “keep families together during this time” of Christmas.  Families without a lot of discretionary funds don’t always have the money to spend an evening out at a restaurant.  By giving them coupons for a free kid’s meal and a gift card for the family, it allows them all to have some special time together.

Savannah and Abigail Briggs shop with their volunteers, Deputy Ann Lawson and Mary Gresla.

After the event, Sgt. Flores plans to use any extra money to hit the after-Christmas sales to purchase the wrapping paper, stockings, gift bags, etc. in preparation for next year’s event.  Any remaining funds will be kept for next year’s event and not be used for any other program.  Sgt. Flores revealed that he can’t make the event much bigger for next year, but he can always make it better.  With more funds, each child will walk away with a little more of the family necessities and a little more of the fun gifts too.

Nick and Haley Castro choose their gifts with the help of Manchester’s own Deputy Lowe.

Through this amazing program, underprivileged kids are able to have a great Christmas, purchase something for themselves and gifts for their family, and have a truly positive experience with law enforcement officers in their area.  What a wonderful service to our community.

To donate to Shop with a Cop contact Sgt. Keith Flores (734) 424-0587 or floresk@ewashtenaw.org.  Donations can also be sent to: DCOPS 8140 Main Street, Dexter 48130.

Deputy Lowe discusses the animal options as Nick Castro waits patiently for his turn to receive a balloon animal.

Colors the Clown entertained the group at the beginning of the evening.

Elle Wilson had her face painted – Batman style!

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by News News