Help Shop With a Cop

Make the Holidays Joyful for Disadvantaged Children-Help Shop With a Cop

Deschutes County Oregon -- 11/14/2010 --

The Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office is preparing for its 2010 Shop with a Cop program. This will be our tenth year and Shop with a Cop would not be possible without the generosity and support of local citizens, businesses and area law enforcement agencies.

Shop with a Cop is a joint venture with local Wal-Mart stores in Bend and Redmond. With the help of local FAN (Family Access Network) advocates and local School Resource Officers, less fortunate students at each public school throughout Deschutes County are identified. Those students who are selected then participate in a one-on-one shopping experience at a local Wal-Mart with a uniformed police officer. We always strive to ensure that new students participate each year.

Since its inception locally in 2000, the Shop with a Cop program has continued to grow. Each year we’ve been able to gradually increase the number of participating students. During the 2009 event, 127 students, representing 124 families, from 41 Deschutes County schools, went shopping. They purchased gifts for approximately 634 family members and themselves, making the holiday season a little brighter. Approximately $36,000 was spent in support of the 2009 program.
This year’s locations/dates are:

Redmond Wal-Mart: Tuesday, December 14, 2010, approximately 1pm-5pm: Redmond, Sisters, Tumalo and Terrebonne schools
Redmond Wal-Mart: Wednesday, December 15, 2010, approximately 1pm-5pm: Drug Court children, C.O.P.Y. children, Bend Alternative Schools, Lava Ridge Elementary, Ponderosa Elementary, Buckingham Elementary, Skyview Middle School and Mt. View High School
Bend Wal-Mart: Thursday, December 16, 2010, approximately 1pm-5pm: La Pine, Sunriver and all other Bend-area schools

You can make a donation towards this year’s program by dropping your check (made payable to "Wal-Mart") off at the main Sheriff’s Office in Bend, or at any of the Sheriff’s Office’s substations in Terrebonne, Sisters or La Pine. Donations can also be mailed to:

Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office
Shop with a Cop program
Attn: Lois
63333 West Highway 20
Bend, OR 97701

An information line, with basic information about the program, will be set up in early November at 541-550-4880. A pictorial presentation about the program can be found at either www.deschutes.org or sheriff.deschutes.org; look for and select the link, "SWaC".

If you have any questions, or need further information, please feel free to contact: