Ready to shop
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 1 year, 10 months AGO
From left: Grant County Sheriff’s Deputy Greg Mansford, left, and Sheriff Joey Kriete accept a check for $500 from Eagles Auxiliary Trustees Alyss Morris, Zayra Quezada and Lena Young; Head Trustee Emily Christensen; President Virginia Jones and Secretary Desiree Goering. Not pictured are Auxiliary Junior Past President Evelyn Burton and Chaplain Linda Jackson.
JOEL MARTIN/COLUMBIA BASIN HERALD
Grant County Sheriff’s Deputy Gaven Allison and his shopping buddy Maxtin shop for toys at last year’s Shop with a Cop in Moses Lake. The date of this year’s event hasn’t been announced yet, but the GCSO and Moses Lake Police Department have raised more than $5,500 already for the event, with more funds still being counted.
Joel Martin has been with the Columbia Basin Herald for more than 25 years in a variety of roles and is the most-tenured employee in the building. Martin is a married father of eight and enjoys spending time with his children and his wife, Christina. He is passionate about the paper’s mission of informing the people of the Columbia Basin because he knows it is important to record the history of the communities the publication serves. | December 10, 2024 3:00 AM
MOSES LAKE — The Shop with a Cop program got a boost Wednesday and another Thursday.
Wednesday evening the Columbia Basin Eagles Auxiliary presented the Grant County Sheriff’s Office with a check for $500.
“Shop with a Cop really helps the community to build relationships between law enforcement and the community,” said Lena Young, a trustee with the Eagles Auxiliary. “(It brings) our young generation together to shed a different light on what law enforcement is.”
“That was one that we were not even expecting to come in,” said Grant County Sheriff Joey Kriete. “What a great surprise … When you get a donation like that from an auxiliary group, it's just unbelievable.”
The money was raised primarily through the Auxiliary’s Thursday night dinners, Young said, and took about a month to come up with. The Auxiliary chooses a cause to donate to about once a month.
“It's always a struggle this time of year,” she said. “So, if we, as the Eagles Auxiliary, can give back to the community, I think that's very important.”
Thursday night’s Tip-a-Cop, a collaboration between the GCSO and the Moses Lake Police Department, brought in a pretty sizable haul, Kriete said. Officers and deputies poured drinks and waited tables at Rock Top Burgers & Brew in Moses Lake to raise money for the program. The night yielded more than $5,000 in cash alone, Kriete said, and the electronic payments still hadn’t been totaled up yet as of Friday morning.
The annual Shop with a Cop event pairs law enforcement officers with children in need every year. Each child is given a gift card and, accompanied by an officer, goes shopping at Walmart for presents. The event is spearheaded in Moses Lake by the GCSO and MLPD, but Kriete said it’s gone beyond just the two agencies.
“We're able to help support our smaller entities,” Kriete said. “The Department of Fish and Wildlife, Washington State Patrol, even some of our fire districts are now getting involved. So we've really been able to grow over the years to give back to so many more families … It’s not necessarily Shop with a Cop anymore. You get to shop with a firefighter too.”
Kriete said he’s always been impressed that the young people who shop with officers often put their family members above themselves, buying presents for their parents and siblings first, or even food for holiday meals.
The sheriff wasn’t sure how many families would be selected to Shop with a Cop, but so many deputies look forward to shopping duty that they’ve had to divvy it up.
“Boy, I'll tell you, there is a demand,” Kriete said. “People want to do it so much … We have people out of the woodwork wanting to come do it. We'll double and sometimes triple our deputies up with people, just so they can be involved with it.”
The officers and deputies donate their off-the-clock time for the event, Kriete added; none of it is taxpayer-funded.
The date of Shop with a Cop is generally not released to the public until it’s over, Kriete said, to prevent crowds of spectators from forming. Donations are accepted through Dec. 15 and may be made at the MLPD and GCSO offices or by stopping by the Columbia Basin Foundation’s Ephrata office. Quincy, Othello, Soap Lake and several other area agencies have their own Shop with a Cop programs that are still collecting donations as well.
“I just get so humbled by how much giving is in our community for others,” he said. “That's one thing I didn't realize before I became sheriff, how giving everybody is in our in our community. Especially this time of year, sometimes times are tough with people (and) they really just dig deep and they give to people like I've never seen. It's just awesome.”
Grant County Sheriff’s Deputy Gaven Allison and his shopping buddy Maxtin shop for toys at last year’s Shop with a Cop in Moses Lake. The date of this year’s event hasn’t been announced yet, but the GCSO and Moses Lake Police Department have raised more than $5,500 already for the event, with more funds still being counted.ARTICLES BY JOEL MARTIN
Endless battle
Noxious Weed Control Board works to keep invasive plants under control
MOSES LAKE — Some of the nastiest plants in Grant County were the topic of a class led by Jay Johnson, a consultant with the Grant County Noxious Weed Control Board, Tuesday. The Noxious Weed Control Board, as its name would suggest, is tasked with keeping weeds under control in Grant County. That’s not a small job; the board’s website lists 129 species of noxious weeds that are found around Grant County. A noxious weed is defined as an invasive, non-native plant that threatens agricultural crops, local ecosystems or fish and wildlife habitat, according to the Noxious Weed Control Board. Washington state law requires that these weeds be identified and their spread kept to a minimum, if not completely eradicated. “We’re one of those agencies a lot of people don’t really understand,” Johnson said. “We’re a county office and … our funding is tax-based assessment. When you get your tax bill and you look down at all the expenses that you pay for, there we are.”
BASIN EVENTS: Oct. 16-24
COLUMBIA BASIN — Whether you feel like shopping, crafting, learning or seeing a show, there’s something happening for you this week in the Basin. Oct. 16 ‘My Family (Mi Familia)’ screening Spanning three generations, “My Family (Mi Familia)” is a heartfelt drama that follows the Sánchez family as they build their lives in East Los Angeles. Through love, hardship, triumph, and sacrifice, the film explores the immigrant experience, the strength of family bonds, and the traditions that connect one generation to the next. Lowrider show and taco truck before the screening. Sponsored by Columbia Basin Allied Arts, EDUBS C/S and the Moses Lake Creative District. $12 per person. Doors open at 6 p.m., film begins at 7 p.m. at the Moses Lake Civic Center Auditorium, 401 S. Balsam St. Tickets and info: www.cba-arts.org.
Moses Lake author encourages women to look beyond church culture norms
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