The 2025 Jeffco Shop with a Cop program once again benefited hundreds of local children in need, but the annual shopping event also gave a holiday boost to the emergency responders who took part, said Festus Police Capt. Lewis Pippin.
The Jeffco Shop with a Cop charitable group treated about 600 youngsters to Christmas shopping sprees this month. Some of the children got to go shopping on Dec. 9 at the Festus Walmart store, and the rest went shopping on Dec. 11 at the De Soto Walmart, said Pippin, treasurer of the Jeffco Shop with a Cop organization.
The group holds fundraisers and solicits donations throughout the year to fund the shopping trips. This year, each of the children received a $150 gift card to buy items they wanted for Christmas.
Police officers and other first responders accompany the children on their shopping sprees.
“The first responders love it just as much as the kids do,” Pippin said.
The program serves youngsters in kindergarten through sixth from all the public school districts in Jefferson County, as well as children in foster care in the county. School counselors help choose the children for the program based on their families’ financial situations, according to the organization’s website.
Pippin said the siblings of children chosen to take part in the program are invited to take the shopping trip, too.
“If a child is in kindergarten through sixth grades and has older siblings in school or younger siblings at home, we include them in the shopping day,” Pippin said. “We don’t want anyone left out on Christmas.”
The children not only got to go shopping for Christmas, but also received a free meal and got to take part in other fun holiday activities.
“They are bused to the stores,” Pippin said. “It’s treated like a field trip. When the kids arrive, they get to see Santa, and there was a Grinch there. The McDonald’s restaurants in Festus and De Soto provided meals to every child.”
While the charitable organization is called Shop with a Cop, over the years the group has included more and more first responders from a variety of emergency services agencies, he said.
“There are more than 30 agencies that participate,” he said. “We have police, firefighters, EMS, 911 Dispatch, state Highway Patrol, park rangers, DEA. They all come and participate.”
Others contribute to the program, he said.
“We have a lot of volunteers that help,” Pippin said. “We appreciate the community support.”
The stores remain open to the general public during the events, and many of the other shoppers often donate to the organization, he said.
To donate for next year’s Christmas shopping days or for more information about Jeffco Shop with a Cop, visit the jeffcoshopwithacop.org website.