Pahrump foster kids ‘Shop with a Cop’
Adversity surrounds young lives in foster care and the holidays can be especially difficult for them. Their exposure to law enforcement is almost always negative, which Sheriff Joe McGill is keenly aware of. So, for the second year, on Monday morning, December 23, twenty-three foster kids, ages 5 to 17, were treated to a shopping spree at Walmart with the NCSO sheriff and his deputies.
“It’s a good experience for the kids to have [positive] interaction with us. Many of them have had bad experiences with us. That’s kind of why they’re in foster care. So it’s a good outreach,” says NCSO Sheriff Joe McGill.
The day started out with McGill and several deputies picking up the kids at their home, and taking them to the Bob Ruud Community Center in patrol cars for a breakfast of bacon, sausage patties, scrambled eggs and pancakes provided by Mom’s Diner. McGill mentions, “We greatly appreciate their [Mom’s Diner] help. They’re not getting paid for all this food that they’re providing for us. They’re doing it on their own.”
Deputy Chris Smith, who suffered a fire the previous morning that destroyed his garage and almost claimed K9 officer Zeus’ life, attended with Zeus, enjoying breakfast and shopping with his assigned child.
Santa took time out from his busy schedule to visit with the kids during their breakfast, along with Annie Burcato of the Division of Child and Family Services, who created the list of kids in foster care for McGill and his team.
Burcato reiterates McGill’s sentiments, “We want to promote positivity with these deputies because, you know, these are the good guys. We want them to realize that these are the people that they can turn to for help. These are safe people.”
McGill and his deputies loaded up the kids in their patrol cars after breakfast, and drove to Walmart with lights on and sirens blaring. The 20-plus cop car parade drew a large crowd out front of the store. Each deputy and their kid(s) grabbed a shopping cart for their shopping spree, and although there was a budget for each child, several deputies chipped in their own money to cover overages. Many of the children selected practical items like clothes, shoes and art supplies in favor of toys.
Tammy Engel, supervising sheriff’s administrator, and main organizer of the outreach event for the NCSO, mentioned that funding was provided by NextEra Energy.
