We have a few more updates from our Shop With a Cop event with Columbus Division of Police. Remember Bryson from Tussing Elementary School who was so happy when he got his invitation that he danced? Well, his parents' car broke down on the way to the event and he wasn't able to make it. But fret not, Community Liaison Officer James Poole made arrangements to go shopping with them today. How cool, huh?
Bryson was really hoping to get a bike, which are in short supply this year, but guess what? They had one that was just his size and that he loved, so he was able to get a bike!
He also wanted to be able to have some Nerf gun battles with his siblings, so he bought a couple of those (reserving the biggest one for himself, of course). Then he bought some board games they could play together when they got tired of running around.
Yesterday, on the West Side of the city, 10 Precinct Officers Sean Taylor and Joseph Lannoye went shopping with Wedgewood community leader and soccer coach Siyat Mohamed and Sadik, who is a fourth grader at Bridge Gate Community School. Sadik was chosen because he gets good grades, is very helpful, is a great teammate, and is very kind.
Sadik bought a lot of practical items--clothing, winter gloves, and a sturdy book bag. Then he said he wanted to get something he could play with outside, so they headed towards the outdoor area. On the way there, though, they found a remote control car that someone had misplaced on a shelf. It stopped Sadik in his tracks. "You like it?" one of the officers asked.
They reported he was completely mesmerized.
"Get it," they urged. He grinned and decided to add it to the cart.
Then his thoughts turned to his sister, and he carefully chose a baby doll for her, which we're sure she'll love.
We mentioned in our post on Wednesday that each child was given $150 to spend thanks to Walmart Columbus - Morse Rd, CME Federal Credit Union, and Starfish donors. However, the children often went over and many police officers paid the additional dollars out of their own pocket. The below text was sent from a grateful mom describing the experience her daughter had with her assigned police officer during Wednesday's shopping event.
"Ok so this was an amazing experience 😊 I can't begin to tell you how much I appreciate you 💞.... She was pared with the perfect police officer. He was teaching her to round down LoL it was so nice to see her smile and laugh... It melted my heart! Her spending limit was $150.00 and he kept telling her to round down so she could get more lol. But her Total came up to $235 because he kept telling her to round down....he was the sweetest guy. He paid the difference for her. And of course I broke down lol and he gave me his card and told me to call if we needed anything. It was just a great day 😊"
Thanks again to everyone for making these great experiences possible! Check out our post about Wednesday's event. It's sure to make you smile.
