Christmas came early Saturday for 50 keiki who teamed up with law enforcement officers for a shopping spree at the Kona Walmart.
Shop with a Cop, sponsored by Catholic Charities, has been an annual event for nearly 30 years, pairing officers with kids who may have had negative experiences with law enforcement whether it was being separated from parents or seeing parents getting arrested. Some were in foster care. All had smiles on their faces Saturday morning.
“This is about bridging the gap with kids in the community,” said Erin Basque of Catholic Charities as she addressed the group of over 20 law enforcement officers from the Hawaii Police Department, DOCARE and National Park Service before the 7 a.m. start.
Keiki started streaming in and after a quick visit with Santa chose the officer they wanted to accompany them on their quest. Each child was given a $100 gift card to spend however they liked. Of course, the most popular section visited was the toy aisles. Some were shopping for themselves, others were buying gifts for family members. It was up to them.
The officers kept track of how much money was being spent as the items piled up in carts. Many contributed out of their own pocket if the amount went over the allotment.
The officers were enjoying the experience almost as much as the kids.
Hamakua Acting Capt. Roy Valera made the trip from Laupahoehoe to participate in the event.
“I was alway involved before I left Kona, and when I heard it was happening I decided to participate just to see the joy on the kids faces,” he said. “These relationships are beneficial to both the kids and the cops.”
Capt. Akira Edmoundson has been participating for over 15 years.
“It’s for the kids. It’s a positive engagement with our community, which we don’t always get,” he said.
After shopping was complete, keiki could have any gifts they bought gift wrapped by Kids Matter and were treated to a McDonald’s Happy Meal breakfast.
Kids Matter-Friends of the Children’s Justice Center of West Hawaii donated half of the money to purchase the gift cards, with the other half coming from Catholic Charities.
Franz Weber from Kids Matter started fundraising for the organization five years ago. He said the event shows kids “the police officers are here to help you.”
“It’s mind boggling how they (officers) are so personally engaged. They see the need and want to help,” he said.
Weber said one child told him how much fun he had, and how his view of the police has changed.
“He told me ‘I had such a good time. When I grow up I want to be a police officer.’ In one hour his life was changed,” said Weber.
Shop with a Cop has been an annual event which was originally held at Kmart. In 2018, after Kmart shut their doors, the event was moved to Target and stayed there until this year.
Basque said Target wanted them to change the name of “Shop with a Cop” in order for the store to keep hosting the event.
Noting that the name is ingrained in the community and there was no good reason to change it, Basque and Community Policing Officer Dwayne Sluss approached Walmart Manager John Yates who, after getting approval, welcomed them with open arms.
“When we were approached by the organization to participate in this year’s event, we jumped at the opportunity to support the keiki in our community and Kailua-Kona Walmart looks forward to doing this again in the future,” said Yates.
Target did not respond to a request for comment.
Sluss, who helped coordinate the event was very pleased with its success.
“I am always amazed of how Shop with a Cop is such a very positive, healing and reassuring event for the children, as well as all of the inclusinve participating law enforcement agencies as well as our participating partners Walmart, McDonalds, Catholic Charities and Kids Matter,” he said. “Each participating person of this event goes away with a happy heart, knowing that there is still good things happening in this world, and there are still great companies willing to step up and place our local community first over silly politics. God bless and Merry Christmas to all!”
