MANSFIELD — Retired police Sgt. Mike Bammann said local cops were looking for a way to make a difference in the lives of children.
Nearly three decades later, the annual Cops-N-Kids program is still making that difference.
The Fraternal Order of Police William J. Taylor Lodge #32 hosted its 29th annual clothing shopping spree for children on Sunday morning at Walmart on Possum Run Road.
About 150 children, most of them associated with the Richland County Children Services kinship program, were joined by their families and lodge volunteer as they searched the aisles for clothing and shoes.
Each student was given a voucher to be used as cash, from kindergarten through 12th grade, and given the freedom to shop and pick out their own clothing.
Bammann, the FOP lodge president for 34 years, has been with the program since its inception.
He retired from the MPD in 2008, but continues to lead the local FOP.
“We joke about it sometimes. Either they like what I do or nobody else wants to do it,” Bammann said with a laugh.
“When we started this program (initially titled “Shop with a Cop”), we were looking for some way to make an impact on the community and we wanted to focus on the kids,” Bammann said.
The FOP conducts an annual local fundraising campaign to raise money for the program. Each child was granted between $125 and $175 to spend, depending on their age.
RCCS kinship care navigator Rhonda Marsh said she is grateful to once again be included by the FOP.
Kinship care providers are people who have a prior relationship with the child they take in, such as an extended family member, teacher, coach, scout leader or mentor.
“We got involved with this particular project through The New Store, an organization that formed nearly 30 years ago and incorporated in 1998 as The Richland County Children Services Auxiliary.
The organization began when community minded individuals desired to help children associated with RCCS receive Christmas gifts.
It has continued to grow and now also operates The New Store inside the Mid-Ohio Educational Service Center on West Fourth Street, supplying clothing to children in kindergarten through eighth grade.
“The FOP went to The New Store and asked them and they referred kinship caregivers,” Marsh said. “The New Store goes to the eighth grade, so this is a way that older children can also get clothing.
“We’re so grateful to The New Store, and especially the FOP because they have picked us now at least 20 years. We are so grateful for what they are doing for kinship children and caregivers,” Marsh said.
In addition to current police officers and retirees, the group Sunday included City of Mansfield Safety Service Director Keith Porch and Mansfield At-large Councilwoman Shari Robertson, a retired police captain.
Two horses from the Richland County Sheriff’s Office Mounted Unit were also in attendance outside the store, greeting children and eagerly gobbling up carrots that the youngsters were handed to feed to them.
(Below are photos taken Sunday morning at the Possum Run Walmart during the 29th annual Cops-N-Kids event.)
