McCop Night will help raise funds for 'Shop with a Cop'

The Annual Shop with a Cop Program kicks off with McCop Night at the McDonald's on Airbase Road in Mountain Home, from 5-7 p.m. next Wednesday, Nov. 18.

The Shop with a Cop program was started 13 years ago with 30 children and has evolved into a program that helps as many as 100 children from 6 to 12 years of age have a Christmas.

The children are nominated by various sources and have been identified as children that would not normally have a Christmas.

To find out how to nominate a child, contact Sgt. Rick Viola of the Mountain Home Police Department at 587-2101, Sgt. Latreda Schultz with the Elmore County Sheriff's Department at 587-2100 or Pioneer Federal Credit Union at 587-3304.

"While the organization does several fundraising events throughout the year to raise money for the program, the McCop Night event is one of the most fun," Viola said. Local law enforcement and military personnel assist the McDonald's staff in serving customers with their orders. At the end of the two-hour event, McDonald's personnel tally up the totals and give part of the proceeds to the Shop with a Cop program.

The program costs more than $100 per child and usually includes breakfast with their chaperone, a gift from Santa, a gift card for the child to shop with and movie tickets from Take One Cinema for the child and up to four people with at least one adult so they can enjoy a movie together.

Due to the size of the event, organizers rely on police officers, Citizens On Patrol, firefighters, emergency service personnel, deputies, state police, military personnel and civilians to act as chaperones and assist with wrapping gifts.

The event is sponsored by Pioneer Federal Credit Union personnel, McDonald's, Wal-Mart and other organizers.

A typical Shop with a Cop event, which this year will be held Dec. 5, begins at 7 a.m. on a Saturday morning with breakfast. The local McDonald's in Mountain Home will furnish breakfast for more than 200 people, which includes the "honored guests" (the children) and the volunteers that make the event possible.

After breakfast, the children are given rides in police vehicles, fire trucks, military vehicles and other emergency service vehicles to the Mountain Home Wal-Mart where they shop for Christmas with their chaperone from 9-11:30 a.m.

Each child is given a gift card that they use to purchase gifts. Often the chaperone will kick in a couple extra dollars to assist the child in completing a purchase.

"It is often a heartwarming experience when you are able to witness the true meaning of giving in the spirit of Christmas with these children," Viola said.