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Wenatchee

Kids Shop with a Cop

East Wenatchee Police Officer Brandon Johnson helps Trenten Huntington decide between a dinosaur or dog toy.

East Wenatchee Police Officer Brandon Johnson helps Trenten Huntington decide between a dinosaur or dog toy.

With sirens blaring a police escort cleared the way for a Wenatchee School District bus loaded with anxious 4th-graders to arrive at Hooked on Toys for the annual Shop with a Cop event. As students from Washington and Mission View elementary streamed off the bus, law enforcement officers waited to greet them armed with big smiles and $100 gift cards for the kids to use to purchase Christmas gifts for themselves and their families. 

For the fifth year in a row, Shop with Cops has paired forty elementary students from across DIstrict with an officer, deputy or trooper from Wenatchee and East Wenatchee Police Departments, Chelan and Douglas County Sheriff’s Offices, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, and the Washington State Patrol. Additionally, professional staff from Wenatchee Police Department, Washington State Patrol Dispatchers and VIPS volunteers from Wenatchee Police will be there to help wrap the presents selected by the students.

Students were chosen by counselors and school staff to participate in the unique holiday shopping experience. Officer Brandon Johnson with the East Wenatchee Police Department helped Mission View 4th-grader Trenten Huntington navigate the store aisles piled high with toys and games. Office Johnson offered Trenten ideas on which toys would be best suited to different family members. “We have a hard decision to make here,” he said, “It’s down to a stuffed dog or dinosaur,” he explained. Trenten ultimately chose the dog, adding that the dog was a safer, less spiky option for his new baby brother. 

For Shop with a Cop veteran, Wenatchee police chief Steve Crown, this event helps him get into the holiday spirit.  “It’s so fun to see the kids go down these aisles and to hear them not talk about what they want but to hear them talk about what their family members would like. This gives the kids the chance to feel the spirit of giving— I love that.” Crown also noted that he enjoys helping the kids use math skills when totaling up their purchases. “I may have had to break out the calculator to help them figure it all out before they got to counter,” he said.

This program is made possible through the generosity of the Community Foundation of North Central Washington’s Foundation for Youth Fund and Hooked on Toys. 
 

Upcoming Events

April 1

Spring Break (No School)

Start: Apr 1, 2024 End: Apr 5, 2024

Multi-Day Event

April 9

Board Meeting

6:00 PM

April 15

Board Workshop

1:00 PM

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