Programs
Orphan Relief & Rescue Fund
Cruzin' with the Cops
Clackamas County Law Enforcement Memorial
Oregon Special Olympics: Clackamas County
Christmas Shop with a Cop
Jake French Fund
Officer Emergency Fund
Support
Child Abuse & Domestic Violence Summit
Community Safety Appreciation Luncheon
Lot Whitcomb Fields Project
Madonna's Center
SARCON
Sheriff's Chaplaincy
The Children's Center
Partners
Higgins Signs & Digital Printing
North Clackamas Chamber of Commerce
Stitch N Embroidery
Contributors
Clackamas Emergency Services Foundation
Employees, Clackamas County Sheriff's Office
Employees, Molalla Police Department
Employees, West Linn Police Department
Sponsors
Clackamas County Peace Officers' Association
Dignity Memorial/Lincoln Memorial Funeral Home & Park

Christmas Shop with a Cop

The Shop with a Cop annual event is planned to occur on a Saturday in December prior to Christmas.  The Foundation has been fortunate to partner with Canby Police Department, who did their first Shop with a Cop in 2008. 

The concept behind the Shop with a Cop program is to locate kids whose families have had some enforcement contact with police.  Sometimes this may involve an adult family member or older sibling who may have been arrested.  The trauma of seeing a family member arrested can cause many young kids to have some very negative feelings towards police, as they rarely hear the whole story, objectively, from those involved.

Shop with a Cop is an attempt to identify those kids and pair them up with a police officer in a positive situation, such as shopping for Christmas presents.  Some others include Lunch Buddy programs, Backpack Buddy programs, midnight basketball, and many others. 

Here is the press release for the Shop with a Cop event that was held on December 19th, 2009: 

The Clackamas County Shop with a Cop event was held on Saturday, December 19th at the Clackamas Wal-Mart. 29 kids from Lot Whitcomb Elementary School and 15 kids from Canby each got to shop with police officers from Canby Police Department, Clackamas County Sheriff's Office, West Linn Police Department and DEA. Kids were able to interact with their 'assigned' officers as they browsed through the store. Each had a $100 gift card. Canby Police Department Officers raised the funds for the kids from their community and the Clackamas County Peace Officers Benevolent Foundation donated $2550 combined with a $450 grant from Wal-Mart.

Employees from Wal-Mart provided a separate check out area for the event. They also wrapped all the gifts for the kids, supplying gift wrap, ribbon and tags.

Retired Deputy Dick Ellis volunteered as Santa. Canby PD had 4 officers, West Linn provided 1, DEA had 1 and the Sheriff's Office had 14 Deputies to help with the shopping. Several board members from the Clackamas County Peace Officers Benevolent Foundation also were present to help out.

Shop with a Cop is an interactive opportunity for police and kids to get to know one another. Any concerns that the kids may have had about police is often changed for the better. Plans are already underway for another Shop with a Cop for next year.

The Clackamas County Peace Officers Benevolent Foundation is a non-profit charitable organization that exists to assist police officers and their families in Clackamas County, when an officer is injured or killed. The Foundation also works closely with programs dedicated to helping at-risk children. The Foundation has worked with Lot Whitcomb Elementary School on several projects, all helping kids who live in the Overland Park area of Clackamas County.