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Giving To Meet Needs
Written By: Caroline Cook | Issue: December 2023
A group of dedicated law enforcement Elves is ensuring that local children understand the true meaning of Christmas.
Shop With a Cop is about much more than children buying gifts for themselves and others. It is about planting seeds of generosity and kindness – and it is about making poignant memories.
The following remembrance is that of a Macon County Sheriff’s Department 15-year deputy, who wished to
remain anonymous:
“Many years ago, I went to pick up my assigned child for Shop-With-A-Cop. It was a little girl around nine years old. When I arrived at the house, I noticed two things. First, the house was completely empty; it looked like no one lived there.
“The next thing I noticed was this little girl’s younger sister had a full leg cast and she was crying. She was told that because she was in a cast she couldn’t go (shopping) because it would just be too hard for her to get around. We decided we couldn’t just leave her there, and we loaded her up and headed to Walmart.
“On our way to Walmart, I asked why their house was so empty. The oldest girl said that they had to leave their house because their mother’s boyfriend was being cruel to them, and when he moved out and they came back to their house, he had taken everything out of the house, including the children’s beds, all the clothing. When the children got to Walmart, they wanted to pool their money together and buy their mother new clothes. Of course, I didn’t let that happen and I had them buy things for themselves. I spent my own money to buy their mother clothing.”
Shop With a Cop was started about 25 years ago by Retired Macon County Sheriff’s Department Sheriff Robbie Holland. It is a program that helps provide Christmas for the children of Macon County who would otherwise have little or no Christmas. Each child is to buy something for themselves and something for someone else.
Due to the great need of some of the families, the children sometimes buy food or provisions for the home instead of gifts.
The children are given a $200 gift card (this amount has been raised from $100 due to inflation). Often law enforcement officers, public servants, and first responders who volunteer to shop with children bring their own wallets to pay for additional items, because the child’s needs are greater than $200.
To donate monetarily to Shop With a Cop, so that gift cards can be purchased, mail a check to: Caroline Cook, P. O. Box 2785, Highlands, N.C. 28741; or drop a check by the Highlands Police Department. Make checks out to Shop With A Cop or SWAC. Donations are tax deductible.
