A dim Christmas just got a whole lot brighter for these 61 hard working Tacoma kids
Jayden Richardson had his own personal Santa Saturday morning in the form of Tacoma Police Officer Spencer Powell. The nine-year-old couldn’t contain his excitement as he sat on a new bike Powell had just bought him at the Tacoma Walmart.
The pair, along with 60 other cop/kid duos, were filling shopping cards with gifts as part of the department’s annual Shop With A Tacoma Cop.
It was hard to tell who was more enjoying the spending spree.
“This is fun. This is like a reset,” Powell said. “You deal with people that do some not so great things. And then you get to see his smiling face. It just makes everything better.”
Like the other police officers filling the store on Saturday, Powell was volunteering his time. He’d just come off an overnight DUI emphasis patrol shift and hadn’t yet been to bed.
It was clear Jayden appreciated his time with Powell.
“He wanted to buy stuff for me,” Powell said, slightly incredulous. “I told him absolutely not. This day is about him. I’ll buy my stuff later.”
Like so many of the other kids, Jayden picked out a few things for himself but most of the gifts were for his family.
Over in sporting goods, Prentice Barden, 9, had just picked out a new football for his father.
“Because most of the time, on the weekends, we go play football,” Prentice explained. “But now his ball is deflated.”
Prentice was being shepherded by Tacoma Police Sergeant Keith O’Rourke. The 18-year veteran of the force has participated every year. He usually spends at least $100 of his own money.
“It’s always worth it,” O’Rourke said. “Time is more important than the money. Time with the kids.”
Good kids
The program is funded with $20,000 contributed by officers and another $15,000 contributed by a private foundation, Tacoma Police Sergeant Elizabeth Schieferdecker said. The 61 officers then spend anywhere from $100 to $400 of their own money at the event.
Schieferdecker is one of the event’s organizers. Saturday marked her 29th Shop With A Cop. The program is now in its 34th year.
“This is one of the biggest impacts we can make,” she said. “They get to see us as people. They get to see us having fun. They get to see that we really do care about the community.”
Schieferdecker and her cohorts work with Tacoma Public Schools to choose the children who otherwise might not find much under their Christmas trees.
“Our one request is really good kids who thrive despite their really hard circumstances,” she said. The program is a reward of sorts.
“We picked up two kids out of their cars today,” she said. “They are living in their cars but they show up to school every day. They work hard. They’re leaders in their classes.”
Lit up like a Christmas tree
Spider-Man was the theme on Zyaire Coleman’s shopping trip with Tacoma Police Specialist Masyih Ford Saturday. He bought himself a Spider-Man watch and an action figure.
Zyaire, 8, was also shopping for a twin brother, another brother and a sister. Getting shoes for his twin was easy, he explained, because they wear the same size.
“And I need a watch for my twin, because he doesn’t have a watch either,” Zyaire said.
About half of Tacoma’s police force contribute to the fund via payroll deduction. Ford does as well but on this day, he was contributing $200 more to Zyaire’s shopping spree.
Ford has been donating time and money to Shop With A Tacoma Cop for the past six years.
“A lot of these kids don’t have the opportunity to get gifts under the Christmas tree,” he said. “This is a nice way to engage with the community and create good memories.”
Each officer picks up their assigned kid from their home in a TPD vehicle. It was Zyaire’s first time meeting a police officer and he was nervous at first, Ford said.
“Then I let him use the police lights, and his whole demeanor completely changed,” he said. “He pressed all the buttons and just lit up like a Christmas tree.”
Along with the shopping spree, Santa and Mrs. Claus were on hand for photos. Free gift wrapping was also available for the presents. Gift cards were given to 14 of the 61 families involved who needed extra help with groceries and other essentials, Schieferdecker said.
