Price City Police Sergeant Kelly Maynes, who has been the strong hand behind the annual Shop-With-A-Cop program, recently shed some light on the funding predicament that they are facing this holiday season.
Sgt. Maynes explained that one of the grants that the program relies on changed up their process several times and have made it to where, because of concerns of fraud issues, the program is likely not going to be able to apply for that grant any longer. Over the years, Shop-With-A-Cop relies on two major grants, the Police Civilian Association and Walmart.
Sgt. Maynes stated that they will likely still get the Police Civilian Association grant but that the Walmart grant is the one that they will no longer be able to apply for. He stressed that this was a corporate decision, not the local Walmart.
Last year, there was a lot of community involvement regarding donations from businesses like Komatsu and Tram Electric that pushed through. This is a program that is 100% funded through grants and donations, with no funding any other way, and any dollar that comes in goes right to the children.
Residents can still donate through the Price City Utility Office or at the Price City Police Department. Those that go to the utility office need to let the front desk know that the funding is for Shop-With-A-Cop.
This year, the event is tentatively set for Saturday, Dec. 21. If possible, they would like to have as many donations as possible the week before, on Dec. 14 or Dec. 15.
Monetary donations are the only ones that are accepted, as all of the funds go directly to the children participating. Currently, Price City is working to find a way to accept online donations, though in-person donations are the only accepted at this time.
Children that participate in Shop-With-A-Cop are selected from families that are going to need it, with most of the selections coming from the officers that deal with people out in the public. They try not to pick children that have previously participated. Anybody that has a child in mind they think would be a good fit can contact Sgt. Maynes at (435) 636-3005.
He explained that children that are not within the PCPD jurisdiction will be directed toward whichever agency they apply with.