Cobleskill students “shop with a cop”

COBLESKILL — In an annual holiday tradition, deputies and officers partner with children to “shop with a cop” at Walmart.

“Things went awesome,” said Cobleskill Police Officer Justin Richards. “He got a lot of toys, got a lot of gifts for his family. It was nice.”

A dozen children from the Cobleskill-Richmondville Central School District filled out their Christmas wish lists.

One little girl carefully chose things for her family, including her Poppa. “Because he works really hard,” she said.

Another girl came up with a list. “Well, they usually like the things I’m going to get, so I got them the stuff they might want,” she said.

All of this is made possible by the generosity of residents and businesses. Year after year, people donate to put smiles on these little faces.

It’s a shopping spree.

“So now we’re on to my mom to get a beautiful necklace,” said a young shopper.

Sometimes it’s hard to tell who’s having more fun.

“As in years past, it’s a lot of fun for the kids, fun for us. We like to do something different, you know, as opposed to the regular routine police stuff that we do,” said Cobleskill Police Chief Justin Manchester.

Cobleskill police have been doing this for eight years now.

While it’s fun to do some Christmas shopping, this is also about creating a bond and building relationships..

“It’s something we’ve done in the past and it’s always a good to spend time with the kids and get to know them and buy them some cool things,” said Schoharie County Sheriff’s Deputy Dan Smith.