OSBURN –– The Osburn Police Department’s annual Shop-With-A-Cop holiday event is looking for shopper nominations. 

Each year, under the direction of OPD, roughly 100 kids are taken shopping with members of Shoshone County’s law enforcement and EMS agencies.  

“The purpose of the event is to foster positive relationships between youth and officers,” OPD Lt. Jason Woody said. “Young children, K - 6th grade are selected each year during the holiday season to shop at one of the local area stores to purchase gifts for members of their immediate family and for themselves.” 

Kids get nominated by members of the community, and then law enforcement goes through those nominations to determine how many kids they can afford to take.  

According to Woody, last year they received 120 nominations but could only take 100 kids. Each shopper gets roughly $100 (depending on the size of their immediate family). 

Along with giving kids an opportunity to participate in the holiday season, Shop-With-A-Cop also provides the kids the ability to get to know and build a trusting relationship with law enforcement in a fun and festive atmosphere.  

“Approximately 1-2 children are assigned to each police officer and support personnel, who then escorts them around the store and assists in selecting appropriate gifts for each family member,” Woody explained. “After shopping, the children will eat lunch with all Law Enforcement personnel, wrap their gifts, and continue to get to know the police officers. The children will then return to their residence with the gifts purchased for their family.”  

There are some criteria that must be met for a child to be nominated. Each kid needs to be in kindergarten through sixth grade, have a social or economic need, and they must live in Shoshone County. 

The program is funded entirely through donations from the community – Each year, OPD works hard to raise at least $10,000 to ensure as many kids can participate as possible.  

“We hope that all children nominated will be able to participate, but we know this will probably not be possible,” Woody said. “Please write a note on the child’s nomination form explaining some of the reasoning you used in making your decision to nominate that particular child.” 

If you would like to donate to the Shop-With-A-Cop program, reach out to Osburn City Hall at (208) 752-0001 

Nomination forms can be found at Osburn City Hall, all local law enforcement offices, or by visiting www.svcares.org. The deadline for nomination applications is December 4, at 5 p.m.