Best Thing I saw This Week: Shop with a Cop event allowed kids to enjoy Christmas spirit
Editor’s note: Today Herald sports reporter Michael Burgess II kicks of his Sunday column “The Best thing I Saw”. During the winter he’ll travel the region to key events. Many will be sports related, but some will not. Readers, you can suggest events Michael should cover. Send your ideas to assignmentdesk@heraldonline.com.
Rock Hill Police, the Rock Hill Schools Board of Trustees and the Jadeveon Clowney Foundation sponsored a $400 holiday shopping spree on Dec. 14 for six Oakdale Elementary students in the second annual Shop with a Cop event.
I didn’t attend the event, but I did see it’s impact.
The program was initiated by Rock Hill police as an opportunity for community outreach and building relationships with children.
“For doing it as long as I’ve been doing it, we get the ebbs and flows, the ups and downs as far as how people feel about police officers in general,” Capt. Roderick Stinson said. “And so, we try to break that stigma to let them know we’re human too.
“We believe in these kids. We want to pour into these kids and prevent them from getting into violent acts or associating with groups that are involved in violence and those kinds of things. Again, just pour into them positive things that they can carry with them throughout their lives.”
The families, who The Herald is not identifying, are chosen by the district, and the money allocated comes from community donations. That money is divided among the kids.
The kids were encouraged to buy Christmas gifts for themselves, but they took the opportunity to take care of others.
“These kids had wishlists a mile long of things that they wanted,” said Lindsay Machak, the executive director of communications and marketing for Rock Hill Schools. “But you find time and time again that these kids are choosing items for their mom, their dad, their grandma, their siblings or cousins, or really wanting to give gifts to those who they really care about.”
Representatives from Rock Hill police and Rock Hill Schools said they are excited to see how the program has grown in just two years.
Machak said “It really goes to show that people care about our kids and are supporting things that we’re doing. We’re really excited about the annual ‘Shop with a Cop’ event because it just makes the holidays a little bit brighter.”
I agree.