Children participating in the Jackson County Shop With a Cop program enjoy a pancake breakfast recently with law enforcement officers. (Photo courtesy of Martin Unrue)

RAVENSWOOD — The Shop With A Cop program, according to Ravenswood Mayor Josh Miller, makes kids smile.

“I think it’s a great thing. It helps kids,” Miller said.

Miller also said, “Shop With A Cop brings the community together and is a neat thing.”

So what is the Shop With A Cop program, which took place Saturday, Dec.18 in Jackson County?

According to Jessica Piatt, office assistant for the Community Foundation of Jackson County, the children in the program were given $300 to buy whatever they needed or wanted, such as toys, and went out with a police officer or sheriff’s deputy to a local Walmart to buy their gifts.

Law enforcement officials in Jackson County recently participated with area children in the annual Shop With a Cop program. (Photo courtesy of Martin Unrue)

Walmart also gave out gift cards, and in some cases, the officers or deputies gave the kids some money out of their pockets if they went over their $300 threshold. The kids then went home with their gifts.

And new for this year, part of the program featured backpacks with school supplies. Just about anyone could get some, because there were no requests for proof of income. It was not part of the actual Shop With A Cop program and did not count against the children’s budgets, she said.

Piatt said there were around 36 children this year.

About the program’s beginnings, Piatt said, “Jackson County started this a few years ago. It started with the sheriff’s department.”

Jackson County Sheriff Ross Mellinger said the event has been going on for five years now.

In discussing the role of law enforcement in the program, Mellinger said, “Our job is to solely be Santa Claus to the children.”

Mellinger also said law enforcement is there to be the big brother and do the right thing.

In addition to the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department, Mellinger said the Ravenswood and Ripley police departments also participated, along with conservation officers with the West Virginia Department of Natural Resources.

For 2021, Piatt the program included participating students from Cottageville Elementary, Ripley Elementary, Kenna Elementary, Henry J. Kaiser Elementary, Fairplain Elementary, Ravenswood Grade School, and Evans Elementary. All are in Jackson County.

Piatt also said students were picked by the Jackson County Board of Education, and were referred to the sheriff’s office, with a list going to the BOE and the sheriff’s office.

Mellinger said there is no favoritism in selecting students, and the criteria include financial need or death in the family.

In addition, Piatt said that prior to going off on their shopping trip with a police officer or sheriff’s deputy, the children were treated to a pancake breakfast.

Some items were pre-purchased before the event, such as jackets and hiking gloves, which did not count in the children’s budgets. The police officers or sheriff’s deputies assisted the kids with their budget as they shopped.

Miller, who has three young daughters, said he believes the event will be around for the foreseeable future.

Funding for the program comes from various fundraisers and online auctions.