KIMBALL - It was a feel-good, smile abounding evening Monday night, December 22, as dozens of local police officers gathered at Wal-Mart to treat 50 local children to the second annual Shop With a Cop Christmas spree. In fact, it was hard to tell who was having the most fun as the officers cruised the aisles with shopping carts full of goodies and their young charges in tow.
Organized by the McDowell County Sheriff’s Office, Shop With a Cop was staged with the assistance of officers from Bradshaw, Iaeger, Gary, War, Northfork, Anawalt and the Stevens Correctional Facility. Even an officer from Capitol Police, Washington, D.C., Litter Control Officer Wendell Hatfield and Sheriff Mitchell’s wife, Heather, were on hand to share in the cheer.
“I absolutely love doing this,” Heather smiled
Shop With a Cop partners included Eddie Asbury, the Board of Education, Wal-Mart, SAFE, Pioneer Community Bank, and individual contributors
“The partners are the ones who helped to make this possible,” Sheriff Mitchell said. “We did this last year and the officers ended up dipping into their own pockets when the kids went over the limit. We do it because it’s really what the season is all about.”
Because $7500 was raised this year, each child received $150 to choose the gift(s) of their choice. Various games, videos, DVDs dolls and clothing seemed to be the choice of the majority of the young shoppers, who were K through fifth graders.
“We tried to be as non-political about it as we could,” Mitchell related. “We asked the Board of Education for a list of names of children who could most benefit from this event. The kids come from schools throughout McDowell County.
“These are children who may have had a rough spot in their lives this past year. They may have had some type of tragedy, such as a loss of a parent or their home, or maybe they’re a kid who just needs to be cheered up. Those are the kids targeted by this program.”
Because the needs are so great, Mitchell said that he’d like to increase the number of young shoppers next year and start the fundraising earlier, possibly planning a major event to raise both money for and public awareness of Shop With a Cop.
“I’m 47-years-old and thought I’d had some good Christmases in my life, but I didn’t know the meaning of Christmas until we started doing this last year,” he said.
“I thanked all the officers for helping, but they told me, ‘No. We thank you for allowing us to help out.’ That’s how it is. We just all love doing this at Christmastime
“Everyone from the kids to the officers to the parents is appreciative. Personally speaking, I feel blessed just to be able to participate.”

SHARING A SMILE - Bradshaw Police Officer Eric Atwell, Sheriff Danny Mitchell, Wall-Mart Manager Brad Garrett and Deputy John Vance share a light moment with some of the young shoppers Monday night, prior to Shop With a Cop. “I have been involved with Shop With a Cop since I was at the other store,” Garrett said. “We were able to contribute a $1000 grant toward this. It’s something I believe in because some of these kids have a rough time and this helps them.” (Photo by Cathy Patton)

SHOPPING WITH THE COPS - McDowell County Deputies Ann Marie Gentry-Vance and Mark Shelton are pictured assisting these young shoppers Monday Night as they hurried down the aisles to select gifts for themselves during Shop With a Cop at Wal-Mart. The youngsters got to select their own gifts and the cops were on hand to insure that they made wise choices and got the most bang for their $150 bucks. (Photo by Cathy Patton)