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LAST MINUTE MUSINGS: Shop-With-A-Cop eases stress for families
It’s that very stressful time of year if you’re the parent of school-aged kids.
The start of school is days away (at some point next Monday through Wednesday here in Putnam County) and there are still so many school supplies to buy.
Where are the highlighters? But they only have wide ruled. No, it says a 32-pack of crayons. Oh no, this list is so much longer than last year.
Or perhaps even worse: Does the school even have a list this year?
Then there’s the stress it places on the budget. What if back-to-school time coincides with a significant car repair or a broken-down appliance? The money is probably there somewhere, but we have to get creative.
Then there are those among us for whom creativity just doesn’t cut it. That’s when some caring organizations in this community tend to step in make it happen for those kids and families who would otherwise be going to school next week on an empty backpack or no backpack at all.
In the last week, events such as Phil the Need’s Tools for Schools as well as National Night Out have helped fill the void for hundreds of kids throughout Putnam County.
Most recently, it was the annual Shop-With-A-Cop event with the Greencastle Fraternal Order of Police.
FOP representatives — 18 of them in all — converged on Walmart Wednesday morning, as did 14 local families with a total of 31 students.
In an hour or so, a burden was lifted for the families, as a police officer paired with each family to go through the shopping list, from pencils and folders to backpacks and shoes to jeans, shirts and even underwear and socks.
All supplies were purchased by the FOP with the families sent on their way, a little more ready for that first day of school.
“I’ve never done this before, and I just feel very blessed,” one mother told an officer. “It’s just less stress.”
That’s the idea, right? A bit of a break for those who need one the most?
Also not to be lost in the event is the positive impact that these young people can see that police can have in their own lives. They arrive strangers and leave friends, whether it’s sharing a fist bump with North Putnam Student Resource Officer James Collings, cracking jokes with Sheriff Jerrod Baugh or keeping Greencastle Officer Luke Brown constantly on his toes.
Afterward, it’s selfies with the officers and perhaps even a hug or two.
“Get good grades, OK?” Putnam County Sheriff’s Office Maj. Dwight Simmons said. “Good grades. Yeah, honor roll.”
And we never know, but things like this can never hurt keeping kids out of trouble when they get older as well. As much of a hassle as it might be to have a run-in with the police, it’s even worse to disappoint your old buddy from Shop-With-A-Cop.