MANSFIELD — When shopping for back-to-school clothes, perhaps the last person an incoming seventh grader would ask for fashion advice is Mansfield’s chief of police.
Luckily, 12-year-old Alajae Cameron had her mother around for a second opinion, while Chief Keith Porch was gratefully relegated to pushing the cart.
“She said she was doing all the shopping,” Alajae said of her mother, Michelle Cameron.
Meanwhile, her siblings — 5-year-old Summer and 6-year-old Jaxson — ran laps around the clothes racks at the Walmart on Possum Run Road, fueled by Hawaiian Punch and Cosmic Brownies.
Chief Porch joined the rowdy bunch on Sunday morning as part of the 26th annual “Cops and Kids'” program sponsored by the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) William J. Taylor Lodge #32 in Mansfield, which represents nearly all law enforcement in Richland County.
Volunteers came from the Richland County Sheriff’s Office, police forces from Mansfield, Lexington and Ontario, probation officers from the county and municipal courts, young people from the “Explorers” programs, and family and friends of FOP members.
Alajae was one of at least 140 local children selecting new clothes on Sunday, according to retired Mansfield police Sgt. Mike Bammann. Most children, aged preschool through 12th grade, were selected through the Kinship program at Richland County Children Services.
“You see grandparents that are raising their grandkids, and now we’re seeing those same grandparents back with their great-grandkids,” Bammann said. “Grandchildren fall outside the helping process, they don’t get financial help like foster families do, so that’s where the Kinship program helps.”
Between picking out dresses for Alajae, Michelle Cameron said she heard about the Cops and Kids program through her mother-in-law, who participates in the Kinship program. She said she is responsible for seven kids altogether, in addition to the three with her on Sunday.
“(This program) definitely helps a lot with school clothes,” Cameron said. “Especially with inflation going on. Everything is going up, except for pay.”
Bammann also noted that despite the recession, the FOP’s fundraising efforts for the Cops and Kids program have still been a success.
“We went through 2008 with the recession, now we’re in this inflation time, but our fundraising efforts for this program have stayed very steady, which allows us to continue this,” he said. “It’s because of the generosity of people in this county, and our partnerships.”
The Possum Run Walmart has been a great partner, Bammann noted. Since 2006, the Cops and Kids program has been conducted through the store’s Lawn & Garden section, and Walmart has provided staff for check-out and snacks and drinks for little shoppers.
The amount each child can spend is dependent on their grade in school, ranging from $125 for the youngest to $175 for the oldest, and the funds come from a five-week fundraiser that concluded in July. Plus, the FOP is a tax-free organization, so young shoppers pay no sales tax for their items.
Bammann estimated the program has helped provide around $380,000 in new clothes for children since its inception.
The Kinship program is open to any adults taking care of children who are not their own. For more information on the program, call the agency at 419-774-4100.
