Still time to donate to annual Shop with a Cop
Donations are wrapping up to fund the Dec. 18 Shop with a Cop program, run for the seventh year in a row by police departments and community volunteers throughout the Fox Valley.
East and West Dundee, Gilberts, Sleepy Hollow and Carpentersville police officers will team up with local underprivileged youth, starting with breakfast at St. Monica's Church on Route 25 in Carpentersville and continuing with shopping trips to Walmart in East Dundee.
Tickets will be sold at all of the participating departments and Diamond Jim's Bar and Grill for a raffle of Dec. 26 Bears game tickets. The raffle will be held at 10 p.m. Dec. 10 at Diamond Jim's, 325 Meier St., East Dundee.
The program started in 2004 when Louis Kloepper, then an officer with East Dundee's police department, raised some money and donated his own to take 15 kids out to breakfast and then on a shopping trip.
“The first 15 kids, half of them were foster kids,” said Kloepper, who recently retired. “We were the ones who took them away from their families so they were kind of scared of us.”
The program is intended to build relationships between officers and children in the community. This year Kloepper hopes to invite 200 kids, referred by police officers, teachers, school counselors or chaplains.
Steve Fletter, a West Dundee sergeant, runs his department's Shop with a Cop effort and has volunteered on the day of the event for several years.
Last year, Fletter said a young boy, maybe 7 years old, didn't want anything for himself. He was only looking for gifts for his grandmother and other relatives. Another girl just wanted clothes, no toys.
“They're so underprivileged,” Fletter said. “They are wanting things that we took for granted as kids.”
Al Piemonte Chevrolet of East Dundee has a fundraiser of its own. The car dealership has donated $75 from each car sale since Nov. 1 and will continue to do so through Dec. 31. Last month's sales mean $1,350 for the program, according to General Manager Rich Carusiello.
Donations are accepted year-round to “Shop with a Cop” at all of the area police departments as well as at the First American Bank, 218 W. Main St., West Dundee.