The Durant Police Department took children shopping for Christmas during its annual Shop with a Cop event Dec. 19 at Walmart.
John Wyatt, captain of the Durant Police Reserves and chairman of the program, said this is the 19th or 20th year for the event.
“Today, what we’re doing is, we’re taking all of the families that have been submitted through law enforcement and private entities that maybe need some help for Christmas,” Wyatt said. “We’ve got somewhere around 170 kids, plus their families here today, and we’ve got all of our law enforcement and church volunteers and community volunteers helping us take these people shopping.”
The Oklahoma Highway Patrol and Durant Fire Department were among agencies that participated.
Wyatt described the success of this year’s event with approximately 170 participants compared to ones in the past as a “pretty high normal.”
“We’ve had more than that and we’ve had less than that, so this is a high average for us,” he said. “We really didn’t anticipate getting the kind of help we got this year because the economy’s been tough, but right towards the end, people came out and really helped us out. We originally thought we were only going to have about 130 kids and we ended up getting a lot more the last week, so that helped us out a lot.”
Wyatt said fundraisers are held to fund the event and the Durant Elks Lodge, Indian Nation Wholesale as well as local banks are among entities that have contributed.
“It’s really one of those things that the community comes together to help law enforcement and of course, all of the families that they want to help,” Wyatt said. “The law enforcement guys are doing a great job throughout the year trying to find families that need help. You know, it’s not always arresting the guy, they see a need. People’s houses burn down and you see that. We always try to help in those instances, too. It’s not about toys all the time, it’s about helping families.
“If their house burns down, tornadoes, they need food, they need clothes and then of course, helping out with Santa. We love doing that.”
The program is always in need of donations and Wyatt expects it to continue to grow.
“This program’s getting bigger and bigger,” Wyatt said. “Next year, we’re probably expecting 200 to 300 kids because we’re already getting referrals for next year, so it’s going to be a bigger program next time.”
The Durant Police Department expressed appreciation in a social media post.
“Thank you, Durant Police Reserves and our community partners for all your hard work,” DPD said. “This was truly a special day. Over 170 children participated and nearly $18,000 from donations was spent. We would also like to thank the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, Choctaw Lighthorse Police Department and Durant Fire Department for their assistance.“
