The Arnold Shop with a Cop program provided more than 150 local children in need with Christmas gifts to brighten their holiday season, said Arnold Police Officer Josh Lambrich, treasurer for the Arnold Police Officers Association, which organizes the event.
Members of the Arnold Police Department, Rock Community Fire Protection District, Rock Township Ambulance District and Jefferson County 911 Dispatch accompanied 146 children on a shopping spree on Dec. 14 at the Walmart store in Arnold, where each child got to spend $100 on toys and other items.
The number of children who benefited from this program rose to 152 when APOA members later delivered presents to six additional children.
“We got to really connect and bless these children,” Lambrich said. “It is what the holidays are all about it.”
Together the four participating first responder agencies raised more than $15,000 for the shopping event, Lambrich said.
“I think what drives us is we all have the same belief in the program,” he said. “We want to see it succeed. Most of the money is from donations from the community and area businesses.”
Lambrich said the Arnold Police Department has the APOA and the Rock Fire and Rock Township have community outreach organizations that help raise money for the Shop with a Hero program, but members of Jefferson County 911 reach into their own pockets to help fund the event.
“These awesome people took up a collection,” he said. “They gave their own money.”
The program benefited more than twice the number of children from the previous year, when 73 kids participated, Lambrich said.
He attributed the growth to the partnership the four agencies have forged.
“We have the cooperation from the other agencies, who we couldn’t do without, and we just did it. It is a success,” he said.
Shopping
Lambrich said 40 first responders volunteered to shop with the children at Walmart.
Those children also received five free doughnut holes from Yogi Donuts in Eureka.
Lambrich said the APOA coordinates with the Fox C-6 School District’s Fox, Sherwood, Rockport Heights, Lone Dell and Simpson elementary schools, as well as the Childtime and Fun 23 day care centers in Arnold to select the children for the shopping spree.
Mary Ann Kunz, 65, of Arnold said Shop with a Hero is a blessing for her two daughters – Cheyenne Harmon, 16, and Serenity Harmon, 6.
“It gets tight, especially around Christmas time for us,” Kunz said. “We don’t know what we would do without Shop with a Hero.”
Lambrich said the event is probably even more gratifying for the first responders.
“In the job, we are exposed to so many negative things in the world,” he said. “When you are shopping with $100 with kids who are getting toys, you are surrounded by joy. For me, it brings me through the year. If I have a hard time or go to a hard call, I can think back to this and say, ‘There is good,’ and that fuels me throughout the year.”
Moments to remember
Lambrich said three moments from this year’s event were particularly memorable.
“There was a neon green bike hanging out of a shopping cart, and this little kid, who was probably 7, was just jumping with joy,” Lambrich said. “He was so excited that he got this bike. He told us how he is going to ride it, and where he is going to ride it. It was just pure joy. The bike was pretty cool too.”
He said being reunited with Serenity and Kunz was special, too, because Kunz gave him cross necklaces for his children last year, and when he saw her and her daughter again this year, they both gave him a big hug.
“There is nothing like it,” he said. “(Kunz) gave me a bear hug and another box with sweets in it. Then (Serenity) runs over and gives me a hug. I told her how a picture she painted me last year is still on my office wall.”
Kunz also said the relationship her family has developed with Lambrich is special.
“Officer Josh is amazing,” she said. “Serenity just loves him. He has such a big heart. If it wasn’t for him and the rest of our heroes in our town, and those all around, a lot of kids wouldn’t have very much for Christmas or any time of the year.”
The final moment that stood out for Lambrich came near the end of the evening when a man approached him and said he wanted to purchase bicycles for the children.
Lambrich said he explained to the man that the event was wrapping up, and the man asked how he could donate to the program. He was directed to a collection box, and the man “pulled out a wad of cash, started flipping through the bills and then said, ‘Just take the whole thing.’”
“They were all $50 bills, $950 in $50 bills,” Lambrich said. “I want to take that money, buy bikes, give them to children and shower this dude with praise on social media. He didn’t ask for anything. This is the kind of thing we run into. It is amazing.”