KAILUA-KONA — When 8-year-old Randy Kilion got his shopping spree started, he knew exactly what he wanted.
But when Randy wheeled the bicycle he’d picked out with Hawaii Police Department Office Marlin Hopson to the register to check out, Hopson realized the boy had forgotten something — so he headed back into the store with Randy and returned moments later with a helmet.
“A good day!” Randy said, giving two thumbs up and standing next to his new bike and helmet.
Randy was one of 50 kids Saturday taking part in Shop with a Cop at Kmart, where kids have an opportunity to go on a shopping spree at the store and build a relationship with local law enforcement.
Saturday marked 19 years for the event. Kids had the opportunity to shop with members of the Hawaii Police Department, state Department of Public Safety and the National Park Service.
“We’re in the community to help the community,” Hopson said after going through the checkout with Randy.
The kids, who each get a spending budget of $50 in the store, are recommended to participate in the event through local schools and social service agencies, said Erin Basque, program administrator for Catholic Charities Hawaii.
“It warms my heart,” she said. “Each and every day I deal with some sort of violence or trauma in our work with these children, and all they deserve is a moment of peace and clarity. And seeing that relationship with them and the officers is indescribable.”
Leah Ledward, a family friend of Randy Kilion who brought the boy and two other children to Kmart on Saturday, said the kids have been looking forward to the day’s event.
“This is amazing,” she said, adding “they’ve been talking about it all week.”
Community policing Sgt. Roylen Valera said for many children who participate in Shop With A Cop, their previous experiences with police haven’t always been positive.
But Shop With a Cop is a chance to foster a better relationship between law enforcement and those youth.
“At first, the kids are a little standoffish because they’re not too sure — and rightfully so based on their past experience with police officers and law enforcement,” he said. “But as they go through the store, little conversations occur and they get to realize a police officer is a regular person. By the end of the shopping trip, a lot of the kids are calling us uncle or auntie and then a lot of jokes are going around, a lot of laughter.”
“So you can see the change in the kid from the very beginning to the very end,” he added.
And the relationship building is a two-way street.
Just as it’s important for kids to have a good relationship with police, it’s also important for police to have good relationships with the community’s kids.
“I think it’s good for both sides,” said Ledward.
Throughout the morning, kids meandered throughout the store — albeit particularly concentrated in the toy department — and beamed as they stood at the register with their toys.
“You look around, everybody’s happy, everybody’s smiling,” said Hopson. “The kids are just ecstatic.”
Basque said in past years, even when the total exceeded the $50 budget, officers have stepped up to give their own money to cover the balance.
This year, Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary Post 12122 got involved in the celebration by donating $600 worth of gift cards to provide a little bit extra and help cover any balance from the kids’ purchases, said Gaylene Hopson, a trustee for the group.
“So they have the extra money to buy the batteries that go with (a purchase), to buy a little bit extra,” she said. “Because sometimes the children pick out something that’s a little bit above. And they want to buy for their parents and the other brothers and sisters.”
Gaylene Hopson said she’s seen firsthand the impact her husband Marlin Hopson’s involvement in Shop With a Cop can have on kids.
“We can be out in the store, and children will come up to him and they remember him,” she said.
And with everyone’s involvement, said Basque, they can underscore that Kona is a community that supports and cares for one another.
“I want the community, I want agencies, I want families to see that we’re a community of hope,” she said. “And we’re a community that takes care of each other. The families, the officers and even the big box stores, we’re in this for the children because we all live here.”