QUINCY — Tickets are on sale through Dec. 15 for a fundraising raffle sponsored by the Quincy Police Department for its Shop With a Cop program. The winners will be announced at 4:30 p.m. Dec. 15. 

Donations for Shop With a Cop also are being accepted at the QPD, 223 First Ave. SW.

Detective Jazz Silva is one of the organizers of the raffle and Shop With a Cop. It can be a lot of work, she said, but that doesn’t matter in the end.

“It’s worth it every year when you get to see how the kids react,” Silva said.

For 2023 the children and their QPD shopping buddies will be riding a bus to Wenatchee on Dec. 18 to go shopping, then returning to Quincy for a pizza party. 

 “It’s really cool. It’s one of my favorite events,” Silva said.

Two children from each family go shopping, and for 2023 the PUD will sponsor 27 children, Silva said. There’s also a waitlist of five families. 

The QPD gets nominations for participants from Quincy School District counselors, healthcare organizations around town and recommendations from Quincy officers, Silva said. 

Sometimes the stories are pretty rough — families have lost their belongings in a house fire, or sometimes there have been deaths in the family. In light of that the QPD works to provide some essentials for the families. Every family gets a basket filled with household essentials like laundry detergent and toothbrushes. 

“The essentials basket is kind of our gift to the parents,” Silva said.

Children are encouraged to start with some essentials when they go shopping, she said, and once they’ve found those, they start looking for presents.

“Something fun,” she said. 

Employees at the Wenatchee Target, where the QPD shops, have volunteered to wrap the presents for the children, Silva said. 

Raffle items include art, comic books, a certificate for four rounds of golf at Colockum Ridge south of Quincy and an outdoor four-burner griddle. Tickets are $10 each for five for $40 and can be purchased at the QPD office during business hours.

“This is pretty much where we get all our funding,” Silva said. 

Donations of new and unwrapped toys and essentials like cleaning and hygiene products can be dropped off at the QPD. People can receive raffle tickets in exchange for donations if they choose, Silva said. 

Monetary donations also are accepted and can be dropped off at the QPD office. People also can contact Silva to make donations, [email protected]. 

All donations will be accepted through Dec. 18.

Cheryl Schweizer may be reached at [email protected].