The Cullman Police Department’s annual Shop with a Cop event took place Saturday morning. Pictured is Chief Kenny Culpepper. (W.C. Mann for The Cullman Tribune)
CULLMAN – On Saturday morning, officers from the Cullman Police Department (CPD), with a little help from the Cullman County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) and other volunteers, reached out to touch families in need just in time for Christmas. They met local children at Chick-fil-A to take them shopping at Wal-Mart for the CPD’s annual “Shop with a Cop” Christmas event. Sgt. Adam Clark coordinated officers and volunteers, who brought 13 children to the store. While they got down to business, CPD Chief Kenny Culpepper and others shopped on behalf of 10 clients of the Cullman County Center for the Developmentally Disabled (CCCDC) Margaret Jean Jones Center.
Thanks to contributions from the community, the department was able to shop with a budget of $250-300 per child. Each one got personal help choosing clothing before, of course, heading to the toys. It’s not unusual for kids to have to be reminded that these gifts are for them; many want to use the money to shop for other members of their families.
Once they finished shopping, officers, volunteers and kids returned to Chick-fil-A for lunch. When the children had been picked up, officers returned to CPD headquarters to sort and bag the purchases. This coming week, parents will be able to come by and pick up the packages to take home and wrap for Christmas.
The event serves a dual purpose: to bring a little Christmas cheer to children and families in the community who might have trouble finding it on their own, and to give kids a chance to interact with law enforcement officers in a low-stress and high-fun environment.
Clark told The Tribune previously, “We really want this to be a one-on-one with the officer, as much as possible, so the kid has a good experience with the police officer. Our goal is to make sure these kids have a positive outlook on the officers. We just want them to know us as regular human beings, not just police officers. We are here to help them; it’s what we’re here for.”
On Saturday, Clark added, “We just want to thank our business owners and our citizens in Cullman. Without them, we couldn’t do this. I mean, all our funds are provided by mostly our business owners and some private citizens. And we just appreciate the community we live in, and we’re thankful that they help support all our community policing events.”
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