Christmas wishes granted by law enforcement, donors
Despite overcast skies and a misty rain, spirits soared at the fourth annual Erath County Shop with a Cop event in Stephenville.
The event held Thursday, Dec. 21, paired 61 kids with law enforcement agencies throughout the county and the state. Participants chosen by their schools enjoyed a breakfast at Purple Goat before loading into separate squad cars, running with lights and sirens to Walmart where they each spent $250 on whatever they wanted.
“We were able to take 10 kids from Dublin. We first want to thank our donors. Without them this event wouldn’t be possible. Second, we want to thank the parents for allowing the children to go and lastly, I want to thank the officers who turn out for such a wonderful event,” Dublin Police Chief Cameron Ray said. “I firmly believe that community involvement is paramount to our success at the Dublin Police Department and I am proud to say that every officer took part in this event. It was a great day to put the uniform on and support this community.”
The Dublin community and Erath County is responsible for making the event a success with enough donations to cover the needed $15,000 and have enough to get a good head start on next year’s event.
As a parade of lights and sirens made their way down Washington Street in Stephenville to Walmart, ‘Merry Christmas’ and ‘Hi, Grandma!’ could be heard from loudspeakers inside the police cruisers as participants were allowed to take over the squad cars using lights and sirens.
Since Erath County law enforcement does not have 61 squad cars, other agencies including State Troopers, Texas Rangers, and Game Wardens were utilized for the event. Erath County Sheriff’s Office, Stephenville PD, Tarleton PD and Dublin PD all participated in the event.
As kids and officers entered Walmart, they were greeted by a gingerbread man, a bluesuited Santa and a hoard of Walmart employees ready to help if needed.
Kids, partnered with their officers, flooded towards electronics and toys, as well as clothes.
Two of Dublin’s kids headed towards the book aisle immediately while Chief Ray and Sgt. Khris Jennings helped a young girl pick out some cute unicorn outfits.
“Seeing the smiles on the kids’ faces makes it all worth it,” Ray said.
With lanes designated specifically for kids and their officers, the process of checking out was speedy, with Texas Ranger B.J. Hill going from register to register with an extra gift card in case of small overages.
Stephenville Police Chief Dan Harris and Erath County Sheriff Matt Coates were also at the registers along with Santa to aid a helping hand.