EPHRATA — The Grant County Sheriff’s Office and Moses Lake Police Department are partnering again this year with other local first responders for their Tip-A-Cop and Shop With a Cop events in December, Sheriff Joe Kriete said. 

“We are looking forward to both of those events,” Kriete said. “We have our Tip-A-Cop event, which is Dec. 6. It will be at Rock Top over in Moses Lake and all proceeds from that event go to support our Shop With a Cop program that we do on the 19th of December in Moses Lake.” 

Kriete said Rock Top Burgers & Brew has been a great partner in the event with the staff there working to help GCSO and MLPD officers take orders properly and get food back to the table without mishap. Tips provided to the officers go to fund the subsequent Shop With a Cop event which provides children in need with the opportunity to go out with an officer and shop for Christmas gifts. 

Area firefighters, wildlife officers and the Washington State Patrol have all participated in the events over the years.

Thousands of dollars are raised annually through the Tip-A-Cop event, but Kriete said the public is welcome to donate to Shop With a Cop at any time. Just stop by the sheriff’s office in Ephrata and make the donation which will then be handed over to the Columbia Basin Foundation which manages the funding for the event. 

Families are generally referred to law enforcement agencies as beneficiaries of the two events.

Most first responder agencies in the Columbia Basin have toy drives or Shop With Cop-type events to help support local families in need. 

Kriete expressed gratitude to the staff at Rock Top for their efforts to help the fundraising event go smoothly. 

“I’d like to say that we give their staff a break, but I think they spend more time helping us so we don’t miss getting the food orders out,” he said. 

The event is also a bit of a friendly competition between MLPD and GCSO officers, Kriete said. Both like to make sure the other team knows just how much their department raised for the event, but it’s all in good fun and for a good cause.

For more information on the Columbia Basin Foundation and the work they do in cooperation with community partners to help those in need, visit their website at www.cbfcommunity.org or call them at 509-754-4596.