THE GADFLY-In Memory of Larry Angel: Shop With A Cop Success

MAYS LANDING — Chase Betz, a 7-year-old from Mullica Township, jumped up and down in nervous excitement as two uniformed police officers escorted him inside the Walmart store. Outside, a bunch of police cars were parked along the curb, their lights flashing and sirens blaring.

Whoa, the kid wasn’t in big trouble, was he?

Hardly. Chase was among about 120 lucky children from Atlantic and Cape May counties who were given full run of Walmart on Saturday while accompanied by dozens of police officers.

Known as Shop with a Cop, the annual holiday program pairs police officers with children from needy families for an exclusive shopping excursion at the nation’s largest retail chain.

Each child is given $100 to spend, but Capt. Brian Zeck and Patrolman Antonio Lupinetti, the two Mullica Township officers who served as Chase’s wingmen, assured him that they didn’t mind if he went over the limit.

“Don’t worry about it. We’ll cover you,” Zeck told Chase as they entered the store.

Chase did a little dance and began hopping as he contemplated what was ahead.

“I’m just thinking about getting some Legos,” he exclaimed.

Zeck pushed a shopping cart that soon began to fill up with items from Walmart’s toy department. Chase first picked a toy Nerf gun, followed by a package of balloons and then some Silly String. Next came a Tonka Toy sheriff’s car that was certainly appropriate for this day, considering the company Chase was keeping.

As his mother, Jaimie Cramer, beamed with joy, Chase summed up his feelings about the shopping trip in one word.

“Happy,” he said.

Judging by all the smiles and laughter in the store, no doubt the other children were, too.

“We’re going to have a lot of happy kids,” said Roz Robinson, a Walmart customer service manager

.With so many gift ideas for so many kids to fill, Santa Claus had his work cut out for him.

“I’m sure we will have every toy. The elves have been very busy this year,” Santa said cheerfully while waiting for the children to arrive at Walmart.

With their lights flashing and sirens blasting, a noisy procession of police cars led a parade of school buses, fire engines and even a Walmart tractor-trailer that brought the children to the store.

“I wonder what people are thinking as they drive down the Black Horse Pike?” Cramer said of the spectacle of such a large convoy of police cars pulling off the highway into the Walmart parking lot.

The children jumped off the school buses to join their parents and the police officers for some shopping, after a group photo in front of the store.

The day began with the children sharing breakfast with Santa at the Egg Harbor Township Police Athletic League Center on Ridge Avenue. The Egg Harbor Township PAL organized the “Shop with a Cop” program, with financial support from Walmart, local police departments, the Atlantic County Association of Chiefs of Police and private donors.

Mullica Township Police Chief John Thompson said the experience is as rewarding to the police officers as it is to the children.

“We get a connection with the community,” he said. “It establishes a bond, which, in some cases, is lifelong. It is a way for the police departments to give back to their communities.”

Altogether, the program benefited 150 children from Atlantic and Cape May counties this year, although about 120 took part in the shopping excursion, Thompson noted.
Entire article at
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/breaking/holiday-giving-event-tosses-children-lets-them-loose-in-toy/article_9cf0b39a-7db6-11e4-b39c-b7a6fd5c2d0f.html

EGG HARBOR TWP. - A parade of noisy police and sheriff's vehicles from all across Atlantic County descended on the Walmart parking lot in Egg Harbor Township Saturday afternoon.
Entire article at
http://www.nbc40.net/story/27565833/atlantic-county-kids-get-to-shop-with-a-cop

Related post
http://gadfly01.blogspot.com/2014/11/shop-with-cop.html

Video at
http://gadfly01.blogspot.com/2014/12/shop-with-cop-video.html

Mullica Township Police Department

Areina Harris

I would like to thank Mullica Township Police Department for picking Antonio (AJ) and Jonathan (JonJon) for shop with a cop. Definitely made this difficult year end with smiles. I would also like to give a special thanks to officer Giardina for being the boys shopping buddy they had a blast. Thank you all again.