JORDAN BROOKS

jordan.brooks@middlesboronews.com

On Dec. 7, the Kentucky State Police Post 10 held their annual “Shop with a Trooper” event at Walmart in Middlesboro.

Shop With A Trooper is an annual program put on by each Kentucky State Police post from around the Commonwealth in order to ensure underprivileged children get the holiday they deserve.

Selected children will spend the day with Kentucky State Troopers doing fun activities, allowing for children to see the softer side of the men and women in uniform that serve and protect them each day. The culmination event of the special day is a shopping spree at Walmart in Middlesboro, in which Troopers and children take all over the store on a shopping spree. Troopers help children select needed clothing and other winter items, but of course also take these children down the toy section.

“Shop with a cop is a three day event that we do in Knox, Bell, and Harlan counties. This year we have 18 kids in Bell County going today, chosen from three schools,” said Trooper Shane Jacobs. “We make sure that all these kids get clothing, before we even head over to the toy aisle.”

Each child received roughly $130 to spend, distributed between apparel and toys.

“They’ll go through check-out, and the kids [will] think that the shopping spree is over, however, at the very end we will walk out and then that’s when they will be surprised with a brand new bicycle,” said Jacobs.

Shop with a Trooper has fundraisers throughout the year thanks to help from local community leaders and businesses who support the program.

The average cost for each child is about $200, including the shopping spree, new bicycle and lunch. KSP was able to sponsor 18 children this year. Every year, the schools are rotated, with Right Fork, Bell Central, and Frakes being the schools chosen to participate this year.

“So we purchased a bicycle for all of those kids, along with all the stuff they already bought,” Jacobs said. “And after all that will take all the kids over to a local Mexican restaurant here in Middlesboro and just make sure every kid is fed before turning them over back to the schools.”