Local Students Take Part in ‘Shop With A Cop’

Dozens of first responders participated in "Shop With A Cop" Saturday morning, Dec. 7 at the Sedalia Walmart.

Each family was paired up with two first responders (Sedalia Police, Sedalia Fire, Pettis County Sheriff, Pettis County Fire, PCAD, and Trooper Jackson with the Missouri State Highway Patrol). Each child was limited to $100 worth of merchandise.

Spokesman Sgt. Aaron Berry (SPD and a member of the Crime Resolution Unit) said he was assisting Larry Klein with WK Chevrolet, who was in charge of the event.

The SPD's CRU also encompasses Community Policing, he explained. Assisting Sgt. Berry were Dets. Nick Camirand and Davis Mittelhauser.

This was the 17th annual Shop With A Cop event in Sedalia, Berry noted.

“Throughout the year, we've been raising money through donations, and now each kid gets $100 to spend, and they a police officer (or other first responder) to go help them shop,” Berry said. “This shows the community that we are more than just law enforcement. We care about our community.”

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Berry noted that the program does have some guidelines and kids are encouraged to buy clothes as well as toys.

“Big thank you to Larry Klein and WK for setting this up, and being the organizers of this event. This is a great community event, because along with the 160 kids that we'll help today, there's more that we'll be doing over the next couple of weeks with Sedalia School District 200 to reach even more kids,” Berry told KSIS. “The social workers and counselors pick those kids.”

Each of the 10 schools bring 15 – 20 kids each.

Missouri Valley Head Start selected the families who participated in Saturday's event, Berry said.