For the second straight year, Wilton Police Chief Dave Clark and the Wilton Police Department are making plans to hold a “Shop with a Cop” event to brighten the holiday season for 26 area youth.
This year’s event will be held Dec. 16 at Walmart in Muscatine, where 21 Wilton youngsters will be able to shop with a member of local law enforcement. Students will be given $200 to spend, with the idea of shopping for family presents.
Walmart provided the police department with a $2,000 grant this year, will be giving a 5 percent discount on everything purchased during the event, plus gift-wrapping supplies.
Last year, according to Clark, students and their families also received Wilton Chamber of Commerce bucks — $100 to each student and their families — for use at area businesses affiliated with the Wilton Chamber of Commerce. They were also able to give students Wilton logo hats and gloves. Clark said the department had around $8,000 to spend last year.
This year fundraising has been a bit slower, and there are more children — 21 elementary students and five teens — to serve. There is a “Go Fund Me” account online with a $5,000 fundraising goal. As of Dec. 6, more than $3,300 had been raised.
“I’m confident we’ll get to where we need to be. A total of $5,200 takes care of all the kids, so I have that. We’re looking to get more for the ‘extras,’” Clark said.
The Wilton School District helps with selecting the children who partake in the event, and Clark noted that Heather Hartley and Jane Owens are a big help. Lizabeth Maurer at the city of Wilton also helps organize the event. “She’s the brains of the operation,” Clark said.
Letters are sent to the student and parents, with an invitation to participate, information, permission slip, and an area for children to provide wish list items of what they’d like for Christmas.
The form also provides information on family members who the children will be shopping for.
“We want to provide the Christmas experience for the whole family through the eyes of the kids. They don’t buy for themselves, they buy for others,” added Clark.
Officers from Durant, West Liberty, Muscatine County, and other surrounding departments will help serve as chaperones Dec. 16.
“We’re one county, one team. I subscribe very much to that,” Clark said.
Ritchie Creamer of the city of Wilton will drive the bus again this year. Afterward, the children will be brought back to Wilton City Hall for pizza courtesy of the Sicilian, and gift-wrapping.
The next day, Dec. 17, the five older students will go shopping at Walmart and have lunch during the school day, with Student Resource Officer Todd Johnson and members of the counseling staff also attending.
“I expect as we get closer, things will come together. We are more organized this year,” Clark noted. “Wilton is a generous community. The idea is to bridge the gap between law enforcement and area children. Kids get scared when they see us in uniform. But the kids from last year still remember us, and come up and give us hugs. This is a new set of kids."