Cops help kids with Christmas

Law enforcement officers and base personnel helped the kids shop for Christmas during the annual Shop With A Cop program Saturday.

More than 70 children poured through Wal-mart Saturday morning on a shopping spree sponsored by the Shop With A Cop program.

The children gathered early in the morning at McDonald's on Airbase Road, which provided them with a free breakfast while they met with their mentors for the day and enjoyed a visit from Santa Claus.

Then they climbed into fire trucks and police cars, sirens wailing, and headed to Wal-mart.

Each child was accompanied by a mentor who helped them with their shopping -- and in many cases reached into their own pockets to supplement the $50 gift cards the children had been given to purchase presents for themselves or family members.

In general, it costs about $100 a child to put on the program, with donations coming from a number of local businesses and individuals. At least one person, seeing the children at Wal-mart, made a donation on the spot to Sgt. Rich Viola of the Mountain Home Police Department, one of the organizers of the event. Viola said donations can be made at any time during the year at Pioneer Federal Credit Union, which has an open account for donations to the Shop With A Cop program.

"I'm very pleased with how well things turned out this year," Viola said. The support was phenomenal.

"The kids had a blast."

Participating as mentors for the children were: The Mountain Home Police Department, the Elmore County Sheriff's Office, the Citizens on Patrol, the Mountain Home Police Cadets, Idaho Department of Fish and Game conservation officers, the U.S. Forest Service, Northwest Paramedics, the Idaho State Police, the Mountain Home Volunteer Fire Department, the base security forces squadron and the 726th squadron on base. Viola noted that the 726th, only recently returned from Iraq, actually had more than 200 members volunter to take part in the progam. Those from the 726th who could not be assigned children helped set up tents at McDonalds where pre-registered children were given their shopping cards, and provided other logistic support for the day.