This year’s Shop with a Cop event ended Thursday after a three-day stretch that brought law enforcement and members of the community together for a positive cause. A total of 100 children were given the opportunity to purchase clothes and toys with police officers volunteering their time for the event.
Owensboro Police Department Officer Loren Yonts coordinated this year’s event as a member of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 16, which sponsors Shop with a Cop annually. Yonts said things went very smoothly this year.
Due to COVID-19 stipulations, the FOP had to stretch the event out over three days this year — a move that Yonts said lessened some of the stress.
“We miss the high activity of having a big group but, honestly, it’s gone really well over these three days,” he said. “It may force us to reevaluate how we do things in the future.”
Shop with a Cop used to bring out roughly 300 people — including children, family members, volunteers and police officers — to Walmart on Frederica St. for the one-day event. This time, around 60 people came together each day.
Thirty-five members of law enforcement from various local agencies volunteered their time to create a positive experience for the children.
“The kids are always excited. They see us and a couple of them get nervous because we’re new people to them and they don’t see us a lot, but they’re just having a ball,” Yonts said. “Every night they pull me up to the register to show me what they got. They want to show me all their toys.”
