Shop with the Sheriff seeks donations ahead of Nov. 14 shopping trip for 50 children
Fifty children from Pottawattamie County schools will go shopping with sheriff’s office employees early on the morning of Saturday, Nov. 14, and organizers are still working to raise the money to pay for it. The sheriff’s office’s annual Shop with the Sheriff program has not yet reached its goal of raising $20,000 a year to sustain the event, said Rikayla Champlin, a senior administrative assistant who helps organize it. “We do have a lot of funds we still need to raise,” she said. The program, which began in 1998, is the sheriff’s office’s largest community outreach effort of the year. Donations pay for winter clothing such as coats, boots and snow pants, along with a few gifts each child picks out.
Champlin said each of the five county school districts outside Council Bluffs and Carter Lake nominates 10 children. Organizers then send packets to the families to learn what each child needs. The Council Bluffs and Carter Lake police departments hold their own Shop with a Cop programs for children in those cities. Fifty sheriff’s office employees volunteer to shop with the children, and many bring a spouse or partner along. The group meets at the Target store at Metro Crossing in Council Bluffs at 6:30 a.m., before the store opens at 7, so the children can shop before regular customers arrive. Champlin said volunteers are encouraged to shop for clothing first and save toys for last, though that does not always happen. “People really enjoy coming out that morning and taking the time to help these kids pick out some new clothes and toys,” she said. “Everyone has so much fun that it doesn’t feel like a work thing at all.”
This year the sheriff’s office added its first apparel fundraiser to its Christmas in July campaign, selling holiday-themed shirts and sweatshirts. Champlin said the summer campaign helps because donations can be harder to come by during the holidays, but the program still has ground to make up.
Donations can be made online through the Community Foundation for Western Iowa’s website by selecting the Shop with the Sheriff fund. Donations can also be dropped off at the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.
