BROOKINGS – Although Christmas might seem a long way off yet, it’s already in the minds of law enforcement officers as they prepare for another year of helping children have a merry Christmas.
Christmas, Kids and Cops is an annual event that pairs up kids in need with a law enforcement officer for a night of gift shopping at Wal-Mart.
Last year, the program served 30 children, giving them $250 each. Brookings Police Department Sgt. Joe Fishbaugher and Brookings County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Jon Pike are hoping to help another two children this year, bringing up the total to 32 children.
“You hear that $250 and that sounds like a lot, but it’s really not,” Pike said. “These kids are picking for their moms, dads, brothers, sisters, grandma and grandpa. In all the years I’ve done this, I’ve found that the most needy kids are also the most giving kids.”
Christmas, Kids and Cops has been a part of the community for about 11 years now, and it’s helped more than 300 families since its start. In its first year, it started out with only eight children.
They’ll select the students from across the schools in Brookings County. Nineteen of the students will come from the Brookings School District, and the remaining 13 will be evenly split from Elkton, Deubrook and Sioux Valley school districts.
The schools’ principals and counselors help the officers make the selection each year, with the goal of helping different families each year.
Besides the $250 allotted for each child, funds are also needed for the gift cards and the food baskets they all receive, which are assembled by Sandy McClemans and other volunteers, making financial donations a key part of the program’s ongoing success.
With their planned increase in children served through this program comes a greater need for private donations, which they accept up to the very night when they go shopping with the kids.
“We’ve even had donations while we’re out doing the project when we’re walking around Wal-Mart,” Pike said.
However, donations before Thanksgiving are preferred as it lets them know about how many children they can invite to participate.
Businesses donate and provide a lot of help, but so do individual donors. The officers expressed their gratitude for donations from both groups and the role they play in helping this program continue to grow.
After all, for some of these families, the Christmas season can be one of the more stressful times of the year, when they might have to decide between paying bills and buying gifts.
With so many children being served, more than just the Sheriff’s Office and Brookings Police Department participate: The South Dakota Highway Patrol, South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks, and the South Dakota University Police Department all participate in the program, as do the school resource officers.
“It’s a very diverse amount of law enforcement that comes together to do this,” Pike said.
And the kids love the chance to be with the officers.
“It’s just a great way to give back to the community, to families in need. The kids have a ball shopping with a police officer. I think it’s just as much fun for law enforcement. We all look forward to it every year,” Brookings County Deputy Jeremy Kriese said.
This year’s outing is scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 19. Starting at 5 p.m., children who want their faces painted by Bob “Boz” Bosworth of Body Illustrations will meet at the Subway at Wal-Mart.
At 6 p.m., the kids, their families and the officers will eat and Santa will make an appearance. He tells everyone, “Merry Christmas” and hands out the gift cards.
Then each child and an officer will go through Wal-Mart, picking out items with their $250. When they’re done, Wal-Mart employees will gift-wrap any of the purchased items.
There is still time to donate to the program so that more children can be helped.
Pike said any donations of any amount are welcome. “Any donation is welcome. We’ve gotten donations of $5 all the way up to $1,000 one time.”
As Fishbaugher’s recommended before, families can take a break from fast food and put the saved money toward a donation.
It is requested that donations be made one week prior to the actual night of the event. This lets them plan ahead and know how many children they’ll be able to serve.
For those wishing to contribute, checks can be written to Christmas, Kids & Cops and sent to Sgt. Jon Pike at the Sheriff’s Office at 315 Seventh Ave., Brookings, 57006, or Sgt. Joe Fishbaugher at the Brookings Police Department at 307 Third Ave., Brookings, 57006.
Contact Eric Sandbulte at ericsandbulte@brookingsregister.com.
