Armed with Gift Cards Kids Shop with Cops for the Holidays

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 Columbia and Newbery 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 sixth year in a row, Shop with a Cop has paired 40 elementary students from across the Wenatchee School District with an officer, deputy, or trooper from the 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 the Wenatchee Police Department, Washington State Patrol Dispatchers, and VIPS volunteers from Wenatchee Police were there to help wrap the presents the students selected.

Students were chosen by counselors and school staff to participate in the unique holiday shopping experience. Students from all Wenatchee elementary schools would have a chance to shop with law enforcement during the day. 

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.