Joplin Metro
Mike Pound: ‘Shop with a Cop’ volunteers put smiles on faces
By Mike Pound
mpound@joplinglobe.com
Folks involved in the giving business tend to live from year to year.
Some years, you figure the giving will come easy. Other years, you figure it will come not so easy. So, given the state of the economy this year, Carl Junction police Chief Delmar Haase wasn’t sure what to expect when the department began mailing out letters seeking help with its annual “Shop with a Cop” program. By the way, that’s pretty much the extent of the department’s outreach for help with the annual gift program for kids: a letter.
“All we do is send out letters,” Delmar said. “We don’t call and bother people.”
I stopped by the Carl Junction Police Department the other day because Delmar wanted to talk about this year’s “Shop with a Cop,” which was held Saturday. Well, mainly what Delmar wanted to do was talk about the folks who made this year’s program possible. Specifically, he wanted to thank them.
Tough times or not, Delmar was happy to report that the 2009 event was the most successful ever.
“I was amazed that even with the economy down, people still responded,” he said. “Some of our donors may have given less this year, but we had more donors.”
Last Saturday, because of those donors, 181 Carl Junction area kids were given a shopping spree of sorts at the Wal-Mart store at 15th Street and Range Line Road.
The department, working with the Carl Junction R-1 School District, identifies kids who maybe could use a little extra something for Christmas. Each kid is given $100 to spend at Wal-Mart. Delmar said that most of the time, the kids have to be gently coaxed into spending the money on themselves.
“A lot of them will want to spend it on a brother or sister or their parents,” Delmar said.
The volunteers who accompany the kids allow them to spend the money any way they choose, but they do make sure that the children spend something on themselves, he said.
Delmar was particularly touched by the support the program received this year because he wasn’t able to devote the same amount of time to it as he has in the past. Around the first of the year, Delmar had some surgery done that kept him off his feet for a while. But his worries about “Shop with a Cop” in his absence proved to be unfounded.
That’s due in large part, he said, to the folks in the Carl Junction Police Department. Delmar singled out dispatch supervisor Jennifer McCall’s organizational skills for making the program a success. He also gave a verbal pat on the back to his entire department, noting that every employee who wasn’t working Saturday showed up at Wal-Mart to help, as did volunteers from just about every law enforcement agency in the area. Of course, that works both ways, Delmar said. His employees can be found helping out at similar Christmas programs sponsored by other police and fire departments. Delmar suspects that guys and gals in the public safety business spend enough time dealing with folks in tough situations that they are more sensitive to their needs. I suspect he’s right.
Of course, the lion’s share of the credit for “Shop with a Cop,” Delmar said, goes to the folks who ponied up the dough. Faculty and staff members with the Carl Junction School District, for example, kicked in $5,000.
“And everyone knows you don’t get rich being a schoolteacher,” he said.
The local legal community also kicked in a generous amount of cash. Delmar said just about every attorney in the area donated to the program, as did the folks at Commerce Bank.
“Really, it’s a community effort,” he said. “Actually, it’s an effort outside of the community too.”
Delmar said it’s impossible for him to list all the folks who helped out this year without leaving somebody out, so he doesn’t want folks to think that the people mentioned in this column were the only ones who helped make “Shop with a Cop” a success. But he also knows that the folks who did help didn’t do it for the recognition. They never do.
Delmar just wanted those folks to know that because of them, 181 kids left the 15th Street Wal-Mart on Saturday with big smiles on their faces.
I think that’s something.
- Joplin Metro
-
-
Lobbyist: Bill on tax-stacking appears stalled
A fix for Joplin’s tax-stacking exposure has not materialized in this session of state legislative action, as city leaders had hoped.
And, with only four days left before the session ends, not much chance is seen for the rescue of a bill that would protect Joplin, and other cities, from potential lawsuits such as one filed last year over the city’s multiple sales taxes. -
Sex offender sentenced for failure to register
A former Texan was assessed two three-year prison terms Monday for failing to register in Jasper County as a sex offender and for receiving stolen property.
Clay E. Herring, 53, pleaded guilty Feb. 22 to the charges in Jasper County Circuit Court. -
Drunken driver assessed suspended sentence in crash
A Webb City man was assessed a suspended sentence Monday on an assault conviction for operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated in an accident two years ago that caused serious injuries to another man.
Justin M. Allen, 32, pleaded guilty March 22 in Jasper County Circuit Court to second-degree assault in connection with a two-vehicle accident May 13, 2008, on Highway 43 north of Joplin. -
Salary schedule to come before Board of Education
A proposal that would institute a pay freeze next year and slightly reduce starting pay for new teachers is to be taken up tonight by the Joplin School Board.
Superintendent C.J. Huff said the salary schedule that will come before the board will include changes that would reduce the annual starting pay for new teachers with no experience next year from $33,372 to $33,122. -
Brad Belk: May tornadoes struck Joplin twice in 1970s
Two incredibly destructive and deadly tornadoes touched down in Joplin during the early 1970s.
Both occurred during the month of May and were separated by just a little over two years of time. -
Mothers, daughters experience pioneer life at nature center
Mothers and daughters got an early Mother’s Day treat last week when they stepped back in time to learn how nature played a role in the life of a pioneer woman.
-
Students brave cold, wind for Fun Run
Sixth-grader Lexie Vaught found a burst of energy as she ran down the final stretch of her mile-long run Saturday morning, well ahead of the other girls in her race.
“I was pacing myself until I got to the end,” she said. “It was amazing (to cross the finish line).” -
Summer school programs facing financial pressure
When Jessica Stahl sent her daughter to summer school last year, it was as much about easing mom’s kindergarten jitters as her daughter’s.
“I’ve never been a school parent,” Stahl said Wednesday while waiting to pick up her six-year-old daughter from Columbia Elementary School. -
VPAA search looms large in MSSU faculty relations
The filling of the position of vice president for academic affairs is emerging as a key issue for faculty relations at Missouri Southern State University and could determine whether any trust can be rebuilt with President Bruce Speck, several faculty said.
-
Fuel prices could be peaking
For a while there, it looked like gasoline would reach $3 for a gallon of regular, and it still might, but the chance of that happening is less likely today than it was even a few days ago.
- More Joplin Metro Headlines
-
Lobbyist: Bill on tax-stacking appears stalled
