2nd Annual "Shop With A Cop" Program

2009 marks the 2nd annual “Shop with a Cop” program for the Gage County Sheriff's Office.  This program has been used in many departments across the United States.  Sheriff Millard “Gus” Gustafson was introduced to this program when he was working in Sturgis, South Dakota as a Special Reserve Officer.  Officer Dan Davidson of the Sturgis Police Department told Sheriff Gustafson that Sturgis Police Department had been doing this program for several years and that it has been a success in their community.

This is how it works:  The personnel of the Gage County Sheriff's Office receive cash donations from members of the community and area businesses.  They then go to local schools and speak with the counselors.  The counselors give the Sheriff’s Office personnel a list of children they believe would be good candidates for the program.  Once the children have been selected and approved by their parents/guardians, a date is set when the children will go shopping.

On December 16th and 17th, the Sheriff’s Office personnel will pick up the children after school.  The children will be taken to a local retail store where they can buy gifts for themselves and their family members for Christmas.  After the items have been purchased, Sheriff’s Office personnel will take the children to the Sheriff’s Office, wrap the presents, and have a pizza party.  The children will then be returned home with their gifts to share with their families.
Each child will receive $100 to spend.  We are anticipating on having at least 11 children, one from each public school district, participate in the 2nd annual “Shop with a Cop” program.  The child must live in Gage County.

We received an overwhelming amount of support from the community in 2008 which contributed to the program being such a great success.  We are not actively searching for donations due to the amount of money we received last year, however, if you would like to make a contribution, it would be greatly appreciated.  Donations can be dropped off at the Sheriff’s Office or at Pinnacle Bank located at 6th and Lincoln in Beatrice.