Williamsburg Mayor says work requirement didn’t dampen enthusiasm for Shop-With-A-Cop

Williamsburg Police Officer helps one little girl pick out Christmas gifts during the annual Shop-With-A-Cop program held last week.

One of the big questions going into the Williamsburg Police Department’s 11th Annual Shop with a Cop event Thursday was how the city’s new Community Reinvestment Program would affect participation in the program.

In other words, would parents or guardians be willing to do community service in exchange for each of their children going on a $100 Christmas shopping spree at Wal-Mart?

The answer was a resounding yes.

In 2014, 150 children participated in the event. This year 148 children took part and the number would have been higher except for some no shows Thursday.

“The worry was that we wouldn’t have as many participate because of the community service requirement,” Williamsburg Mayor Roddy Harrison said Thursday. “It did not hinder. In fact, we are getting a lot of positive feedback tonight by the parents or whoever may be bringing them to shop

“The positive thing that is going to come out of this is we are taking our children shopping as we normally do. We are also learning about our community and that people volunteer and are willing to do a lot more than we ever anticipated.”

The Community Reinvestment Program required that each of the 60 families participating in Shop with a Cop this year to do eight hours of community service in exchange for their child or children participating.

While 480 hours of community service were required, participants actually logged 876.5 hours of community service this year.
Only nine of the families didn’t do any community service hours. Two were excused for legitimate reasons and the rest were signed up about one week before the event and didn’t have time to log the community service hours.

Harrison said that some participants intentionally logged additional hours in case there were people who could not do their own community service.

"People only needed 480 hours to take these kids shopping and we got over 800 hours of community service," Harrison noted.
"To me that shows that people in this community love their children and are willing to do something so we can take them shopping. To me that is the most positive thing in the world."

Parents react

All the parents interviewed by the News Journal about the Community Reinvestment Program Thursday had nothing but praise for the effort.

Heather Herron, who brought her two-year-old, nine-year-old and 12-year-old out to participate in Shop with a Cop Thursday, said the event means a lot to her.

“They enjoy shopping and sometimes you can’t afford to do that. This helps them out to be able to get what they want when I can’t get it every week,” Herron noted.

Herron said she attended some parent workshops as part of her community service for the program.

“I thought it was good. I learned a lot of things that I could bring home to do activities with the kids,” Herron said. “It helped to see other parents involved in it too and other programs that I never knew about.”

Haley Fannin brought her daughter and two grandchildren with her Thursday to participate.

“Oh it’s wonderful. My children never did get an opportunity like this. To do something for the community service too is a really great thing,” Fannin said.

Fannin said she attended various school dinners and after school projects as part of her community service.

The community service aspect of the program is something Fannin noted she both enjoyed and thinks the city should continue requiring for next year.

“It is very worthwhile. It teaches the kids to help out the community if they want something in return,” Fannin added.
Jessica Mitchell also attended the event with her three children ages 12, nine and seven, participating.

“I think it is awesome. They have never participated in anything like this before,” Mitchell said. “There aren’t a lot of jobs out there. I think it helps a lot of families and a lot of kids.”

She said it is “extremely” difficult making ends meet at Christmas time and trying to give the children what they want and what they need.

Mitchell went to workshops and family reading nights as her community service for the program.

“I think it was great. It didn’t bother me at all,” Mitchell added. “I think if they are going to do this for your kid then you need to give something back is the way I feel about it.”

Fun event for organizers
Harrison said Shop with a Cop is one of the “funnest” times of the year for him.
“It tugs at your heart strings. Most of them want to buy for each other if they have a brother or sister,” Harrison noted.
He said organizers have to explain to many of the children that the $100 is for them to spend on themselves and that their siblings have their own money to spend on Christmas.
“The smiles on their faces are worth a billion dollars,” Harrison added.
Williamsburg Police Chief Wayne Bird said that as usual it is an awesome event for the police officers to participate in.
“We love it. We love seeing kids, who are unfortunate, get a Christmas. It is great. We love it,” Bird said. “It is one of the best things we do as a police officer by far.”
Bird, who has two young sons of his own, said he could relate to families trying to make ends meet while raising children, especially at Christmas time.
“When you have two kids it is tough,” Bird said. “I can imagine if you have four or five kids. A lot of these families we are seeing have four, five or six kids. I can imagine how tough it is.”

Purpose of program

Harrison added that the purpose of the Community Reinvestment Program wasn’t to punish a child, and that roughly the same number of children went shopping this year as did last year.

Harrison said he got the idea for requiring community service after speaking with business owners, who told him they couldn’t find people, who were willing to work.

"What we wanted inevitably to show is what we have in this town are people, who are willing to do something so their child can shop," Harrison noted. "Number one it teaches the child that nothing is free and somebody has to do something for it so the child learns."

Harrison said the city has set up a database showing who did community service and the type of community service they did.
He hopes to put that database to future use if an employer contacts him needing someone with a particular skill to work, who is willing to work.