On Saturday, December 6th, Easton Police Department and the Talbot County Sheriff’s Office came together for the Talbot Optimist Club’s annual ‘Shop with a Cop’ event. This event sees police officers pairing up with local youths from Talbot Mentors to assist them on a shopping spree for holiday gifts for the youths and their families.

“It’s a really special event for our officers,” said Easton Police Chief Alan Lowrey. “It always means a lot to be able to help our community, but to be able to spend the day with these kids, and to see first-hand how much joy it brings...it’s a great feeling.”

The children participating came out to the Waterfowl Building off of S. Harrison St., where they were paired with their chaperoning officers. After they were welcomed by the officers, the children ventured out to the squad cars to head over to the Easton Walmart. The squad cars all ran lights and sirens in a procession for a fun ride over for the participants.

Talbot Optimist Club fundraising allowed for a $125 allowance for each child, and Walmart of Easton added an additional $20 dollars for a total of $145 for gifts. While a few children went slightly over, the chaperoning officers were kind enough to pay the remainder out of their own pockets.

Once they arrived at Walmart, the children excitedly made their way around the store, working with the officers to pick out gifts for themselves and their loved ones. 

Debbie Henckel, event coordinator and member of the Talbot Optimist Club has been working the event for almost 17 years. Henckel said, “It’s a wonderful event, and it means a lot to both the officers and the kids. I know some of the officers return each year to be here, and I know of some of them who still keep in contact with their kids from 16 years ago.” 

After all of the shopping was completed, the group came back to the Waterfowl Building to get wrapping. Tape, wrapping paper, bows, and bags were all deployed as the officers and their companions took all the gifts and got to work on making everything ready for under the tree. Once completed, the officers and children enjoyed pizza and snacks together, before wrapping up the day and heading home.

Henckel added, “For these kids, the opportunity to hang out with these police officers for the day is a wonderful thing. They’re at an impressionable age and it’s important for them to know our local police are here to help them.”