'Shop With a Cop' in Salem Helps 415 Local Kids

Law Enforcement for Youth says they are pleased to announced that their 2007 Shop with a Cop program was a resounding success.

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(SALEM, Ore.) - The Shop with Cop program partners disadvantaged children with a law enforcement officer to shop for a holiday gift. The kids are selected through several agencies including the housing authorities of Marion County and Salem, Salem/Keizer Schools, crisis centers and others,

Steve Polanski with Law Enforcement for Youth, says their local all volunteer non-profit organization conducts this event from fundraising to the coordination of the shopping day. Each child is provided a $25.00 gift card.

This year’s event was held on December 15th at the South Commercial WalMart store. Polanski says 415 children were able to participate this year.

"From 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM, 415 children were partnered with a law enforcement officer and had a great time together shopping for the child’s gift."

He says 120 Officers from numerous agencies including the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, Salem Police Department, Oregon State Police, Keizer Police Department, Oregon Department of Corrections, Stayton Police Department and others participated on their own time to make sure each child had a partner “Cop” to shop with.

He added that some officers made multiple trips through the lines and shopped with several children through out the day.

"If you have not experienced this event we encourage you to mark you calendars for next year. The event is fun and heart warming. Every year there are more and more smiles. The 2007 event increased the number of children participants by 115 from last year’s event."

Polanski says they would like to thank all of those who have donated money, and volunteered time to make the 2007 Shop with a Cop program such a success.