‘Christmas With a Cop’ was on Thursday night, Dec. 16, at Warsaw’s Meijer. The Kosciusko County Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) Lodge 149’s annual event allows kids to purchase clothes and toys with area police officers. Before the event started, some of the officers that participated posed with Meijer staff for a photo. Photo provided.

By Leah Sander
InkFreeNews

WARSAW — Those headed to Warsaw’s Meijer on Thursday night, Dec. 16, may have wondered why all the police cars were parked outside with their lights flashing.

It wasn’t an emergency, but a time to bring some happiness into the lives of area children.

The Kosciusko County Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) Lodge 149 hosted its annual “Christmas With a Cop” event on that date at the store. Numerous officers from the Indiana State Police, Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office, Warsaw Police Department, Winona Lake Police Department and other smaller departments showed up to shop with children from area elementary schools.

“We have at least been doing it for the last 10 years,” said Kosciusko County FOP Lodge 149 President Ryan Moore, also a detective sergeant with the Warsaw Police Department.

Officers shopped in rounds with kids Thursday. About 100 kids were scheduled to shop.

“We ask each elementary to provide us with four kids,” said Moore. “Sometimes they’re like, ‘Hey, we’ve got six.’ Sometimes they’re like, ‘We only have two.’ And then honestly almost every year that I’ve been doing this, we have some walk-ups that come up and they ask and say, ‘Hey, can you help us out?’ And we do. And then sometimes there’s also families that one of the officers that’s a member of our lodge, he knows that maybe they have a parent that is going through some type of cancer treatment and they’re just really tapped out or in years past we’ve had local homes that have caught fire so we always help them out so that’s how we determine who gets to shop.”

Kosciusko County FOP Lodge 149 pays for the shopping through fundraising, including its annual golf outing. Kids get $100 to spend, which is split equally between toys and clothes.

This year’s “Christmas With a Cop” was back to in person at Meijer. Due to COVID-19 last year, officers used Meijer gift cards to buy items for kids and dropped them off at their homes.

Moore said he hoped the children participating Thursday feel more relaxed around police officers as a result of their experience.

“We hope that they can understand that we’re not bad,” he said. “I guess when I say that is, one we take the kids out shopping and we just .. want to help them have a better Christmas and we have the means that we do all of our fundraisers throughout the whole year just for this. We’re a not-for-profit and we literally save all of our money other than a few of our small bills for this night.”

“The kids love it and honestly I’ve seen kids as kindergartners and then I didn’t see them for a couple years and then I see them as they get older and then sometimes you see them out on the street and they recognize you from this and it helps, it helps community relations, it helps them know that they can trust us and that we can put a smile on their face and they remember things like that you know,” he added. “Some of these kids will remember, oh, you bought me that cool Nerf gun and stuff like that.”

One of the officers shopping was Kosciusko County Sheriff Kyle Dukes.

He’s helped shop since his time with the Indiana State Police.

“You know this was always something we always look forward to because the kids have fun and it’s supposed to be building those relationships, but as you can see, the police officers we’re all having fun, we’re all teasing each other and this is nice to hang out in an environment where we’re not out on a call, we’re not at a car accident, we’re not at a robbery, so we’re having fun and that’s what it’s all about,” he said.

“You know the FOP putting on this … it’s an awesome program and I know throughout the year the money that the fundraising goes to this so this is what it’s all about, helping the kids,” Dukes continued.

Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Deputy Elizabeth Johnson was participating in the Kosciusko County event for the first time after being hired as an officer this year. She previously ran a similar event with her former employer, the South Whitley Police Department.

“So the department I used to be at, I ran our Shop With a Cop program, so I love children … when I came here, it was just kind of an automatic transfer over,” she said of why she participated in Thursday’s shopping.

“I just think the kids love it,” she added. “They get to walk around with a cop in the store and pick out things that they might not be able to get before or they don’t really have a limit on what exactly they can get. They have a money limit, but other than that, it’s just fun for them to be able to run around with somebody that isn’t their parents and spend money you know. I think the kids get a lot of fun out of it from the years that I’ve done it.”

A longtime veteran of “Christmas With a Cop” is Pierceton Police Chief Tim Sammons. On Thursday, he brought Emily Graf with him to help shop.

The Whitko High School senior is interning with the Pierceton Police Department via the Whitko Career Academy. She hopes to become a detective in the future.

“I just think it’s an awesome opportunity for law enforcement to get involved with children that at times are a little bit less fortunate,” said Sammons. “They don’t get to see law enforcement in this capacity at times and it’s a great thing for the community and it’s a wonderful thing for the FOP that they are able to reach out and do projects like this and we’re very thankful for the people that have donated for this to take place for our children in the county.”

Winona Lake Police Chief Joe Hawn has also helped with “Christmas With a Cop” for numerous years.

“I just love going out with the kids and being part of the community and just helping out where we can,” he said.

Hawn’s colleague with the Winona Lake Police Department, Sgt. Joe Bumbaugh, played the role of Santa at the event. He had grown out his beard for a fundraiser, but having it assisted him in being Santa Thursday.

“I hope that they get a good personal experience with each and every one of the police officers here tonight and just have a good time with it, maybe form just a slight little bond,” he said of what he hoped kids took away from the event.

To donate to the “Christmas With a Cop” program, people may send funds to the Kosciusko County FOP Lodge 149 at 1211 E. Smith St., Warsaw, IN 46580.

Officers came in from departments all over the county to shop with kids. From left: Noah Woodcock, his mother Amanda Ponko and Kosciusko County Sheriff Kyle Dukes work on selecting clothes. Milford Police Department Deputy Marshal R.J. Plummer is in the back of the photo. InkFreeNews photo by Leah Sander.

Winona Lake Police Department Sgt. Joe Bumbaugh played the role of Santa for visits with the kids. From left: Elf Jessica Jones, Bumbaugh, Neteri Lampkin and her mother Quinisha Williams. InkFreeNews photo by Leah Sander.

Camden Grindle, Winona Lake Police Chief Joe Hawn, Elissa Gore and Grindle’s mother Janelle McClellan shop for shoes. InkFreeNews photo by Leah Sander.

Rylie Weaver, left, shows off some of the toys she picked out with Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Deputy Elizabeth Johnson. InkFreeNews photo by Leah Sander.

Miaya Keener, front, shops with from left: Emily Graf, her mother Heather Judd and Pierceton Police Chief Tim Sammons. Graf, a Whitko High School senior, is interning with the Pierceton Police Department. InkFreeNews photo by Leah Sander.

Bumbaugh, poses with his elves Gore, left, and Jones. InkFreeNews photo by Leah Sander.

Indiana State Police Trooper Dave Caswell brought along his police dog Chase Thursday. InkFreeNews photo by Leah Sander.

Some of the officers’ vehicles sit with their lights on in front of the store. InkFreeNews photo by Leah Sander.