As a part of the annual Shop with a Cop program, officers from area law enforcement agencies, including the IU Police Department, the Bloomington Police Department, the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department and more, helped 75 kids shop for the holidays Sunday morning at the Bloomington Wal-Mart.
With the help of two police officers and their daughter, Freeman filled the cart with Hello Kitty T-shirts, a scarf and gloves — all items she typically doesn’t get to pick out herself.
Her brother Richard was excited to pick out his own cart, which he filled with a Star Wars t-shirt, a blue dress shirt, a tie for church and black slacks just slightly too long for his skinny 9-year-old legs.
IUPD Officer Phil Delay helped Richard remove his worn orange New Balance sneakers to try on a pair of size 3 red and black Starter-brand running shoes.
“My feet grow really fast,” Richard said.
The two swapped the shoes out, finding a pair that fit best. Delay marked the price in his notebook.
They continued shopping throughout the store, careful not to go over their budget of $100 for essential clothes and $25 for a gift funded through donations to the Don Owens Memorial Lodge #88 of the Fraternal Order of Police.
BPD Detective Jason Shaevitz said social workers in the Monroe County Community School Corporation and Richland-Bean Blossom Community School Corporation refer families that would be a good fit for the program, typically those that are “the working poor.”
“We try to target those families that aren’t necessarily the ones that are the most desperate that need the money” Shaevitz said. “But those families that are out there working, trying to help themselves. They’re out there trying to do their part, do the best they can to get by.”
Shaevitz said the primary goal of the program is to build positive interaction between the kids and police officers.
“A lot of times, a lot of the kids we do deal with when we’re doing our job, unfortunately, it’s always at a negative time in their life,” Shaevitz said. “Our idea here is to give them a positive experience.”
Delay and his wife, IUPD officer Debbie Delay, have volunteered almost every year since the start of the program in 1990. This year their daughter Rachel Delay, a senior at IU, helped volunteer as well.
Walking down the store aisles with the Freeman family, Debbie was reminded of shopping for her own children when they were Emma and Richard’s age.
“I like kids,” Debbie said. “It’s Christmas and that’s what it’s all about. It’s about kids.”
Summer Freeman shopped alongside her two kids and the officers. Having recently moved to the Rise!, a transitional housing project operated by the Middle Way House, Summer found out just a week ago that she and her children would be participants in the Shop with a Cop program.
Unsure of her children’s sizes, Summer said she hadn’t shopped for her children in a while. Most of her children’s clothes are donated.
“It’s really nice to get a chance to interact with kids in the community in a positive way,” said IUPD officer Hilary Aydt, who has assisted in the program for several years. “There’s a lot of families that it’s nice for them to have around this time, to have clothes and to have toys for the kids.”
