GOSHEN COUNTY – Some may say, one of the most beautiful parts of Goshen County is the community members, clubs and organizations who live to serve the residents of the community they call home. Around nearly every corner, there is an act of kindness, love, support and success in Goshen County. However, many of the good deeds done, are done behind closed doors. 

A few short weeks ago, one of those enormous acts of care, “Shop with a cop,” kicked off in the Torrington Bomgaars store, Friday evening. Nearly 50 children throughout Goshen County were given the opportunity to shop with a first responder for Christmas gifts for their loved ones. An inside look into the program exposes a handful of Santa’s helpers who, with hearts full of compassion, devote a little bit of time, wrapping paper, food and cheer during the holiday season to those in the community who need a bit of love.

Cydney Sharp explained she has helped keep the program afloat in the community for the last few years. Sharp hasn’t acted alone in the holiday tradition, she admits. 

“I was at the county attorney’s office when we started this three years ago, or when we started, we brought it back after the police department chose to move on to their stuff that they do with the elderly, where they bring Christmas to the elderly,” Sharp explained. “When we learned that the police department was no longer going to sponsor the event, Korey [Fleenor] and myself and a couple other people at the [Goshen County] Sherriff’s Department got together and we decided we wanted to try.”

In most cases, youth interact with first responders during the most difficult and traumatic moments in their lives, according to Sharp. Events which focus on positive community involvement between local children and first responders is beneficial to all stakeholders. 

“We feel that it’s very, very important and such a wonderful experience for kiddos and an important experience to have a positive interaction with law enforcement and first responders,” Sharp explained. “We just kind of took the reins and went to work.”

Sharp expressed their event was planned from scratch as there was no example left behind to follow.

“I think the people who had facilitated it prior were all gone from the department,” Sharp explained. “We basically started from zero, which was kind of fun too because we have a little bit of ownership over it as well and makes it a little bit more personal.”

The event isn’t sponsored by any of the local community clubs or organizations although Sharp explains, without a few organizations, the event wouldn’t be possible. 

“There’s a little committee that is myself, [Goshen County] Sherriff Kory Fleenor and then Brenda Sykes from his office that kind of do the majority of this stuff, but there’s also a lot of other people that assist with that,” Sharp explained. “The sheriff’s office kind of sponsors it, I guess, it’s the law enforcement agency.”

The event isn’t just for cops and deputies, Sharp noted.

“We kind of talked about changing it from shop with a cop to shop with a first responder and stuff because sometimes out fire department helps. Sometimes the ambulance base helps. This year we had [Wyoming] Game and Fish,” Sharp explained. “We’ve talked about kind of just maybe making it something where it’s all-inclusive, but that’s perfect.”

According to Sharp, starting from scratch also meant the group needed to find ways to secure funding.

“When we started, like I said, we started from scratch and so we were out trying to raise money and trying to figure out how we were going to figure out which kiddo or how to get kiddos who were in need of an experience like this,” Sharp said. “That’s where all of these partnerships kind of came into play.”

“The Elks, (Torrington Elks Lodge #1726) they are huge for it because they get a grant. They have the last three years for us that they get from their Elks National Foundation. That allows us to reach a lot more kiddos financially and they can have a bigger budget to shop with as well,” Sharp explained.

This year, the event sponsored Christmas shopping for 48 children in the community.

“Forty-eight kiddos shopped and we had 52 that were signed up. We were able to reach a lot of kiddoes and that’s really helpful,” Sharp explained. “Then also the Elks opens up its doors for us and we get to use their facility.”

According to Sharp, the event is more than just shopping with law enforcement. 

“What they do is the kiddos shop at Bomgaars and then they get to ride fire trucks with all their lights and stuff on to the Elks Lodge,” Sharp explained. “Then, at the Elks Lodge, they’re fed pizza and chili. There are a bunch of volunteers that help them wrap their gifts.”

Sharp hopes to continue to grow the event.

“We’re just learning each year. We’re trying to incorporate more and hopefully – we want to expand it too. Right now, it’s offered to kiddos kindergarten through fifth grade. We want to kind of come up with something that we can give to middle school and high school that’s maybe not necessarily shop with a cop but something where they also get to have that positive interaction and do something for their families or for other people,” Sharp said.

“We’re hoping to expand. The Elks Club, they’re just so important to the whole thing for all those reasons,” Sharp explained. “Then, the VFW also. They have members who provide the chili and then they have members who volunteer to help wrap. They also donate wrapping paper and supplies and stuff like that. Those two civic organizations really show up big time for us, which is great.”

Sharp explained children are elected by schools. 

“Right now, we ask each of the elementary schools within the district, their school counselors to provide us with a list of names. For example, this year, we did 10 from each elementary school. We had Lincoln, Trail, Lingle and Southeast/LaGrange,” Sharp explained. “Then we kind of have kiddos that, through law enforcement and through what I did at the county attorney’s office where we would work, we knew them through department of family services or through law enforcement contacts that we knew maybe weren’t going to have a good Christmas or were financially struggling or just went through some really tough things.”

The ultimate goal is for the area youth to see law enforcement and first responders in a positive light and spread a little Christmas cheer. Sharp also noted the staff and employees of Bomgaars has been helpful and supportive of the event. 

“Then also, the [Wyoming] First Lady (Jennie Gordon), she has a fight against hunger initiative (Wyoming Hunger Initiative) or something along those lines, so each kiddo, when they’re done, each shopper gets a food basket that contains all the stuff for a holiday meal. She pays for that,” Sharp explained. “Then Main Street Market fulfills those baskets for us. This year, we’ve been able to collect money as we’ve gone on. The shop with a cop committee was able to then give gift certificates to add to those food baskets so the families could pick either their choice of a turkey or a ham to add to that.”

Without the support from the community, this program wouldn’t be possible for the small group of folks who have joined together to brighten someone else’s Christmas; however, the children aren’t the only ones who enjoy the tradition. 

“It is a great pleasure to be able to do this for our local youth,” Fleenor added. “It really warms the heart to see the smiles on the children’s faces when they arrive to shop, ride the fire trucks and wrap the gifts.”

“This would never be possible without the help and hard work of the Elks, Cydney Sharp, Wyoming Highway Patrol, Law Enforcement Officers, Bomgaars, Torrington Fire Department, Wyoming’s First Lady Gordon, Main Street Market,” Fleenor commented. “We also need to thank the many volunteers who help wrap the gifts, cook the food and work behind the scenes. I look forward to doing it each and every year. With the continued support of everybody and the community, we will be able to do this for many years to come.” 

According to Sharp, even after three years of involvement with the program, the event still pulls on her heartstrings.

“I’m three years in and I cry every time because I just – some of the kiddos I know through the county attorney’s office and now I teach at one of the schools. I am familiar with their situations and to see them smiling and happy and for an hour and a half, the heaviness of their lives is gone and they get to just be kids,” Sharp said. “It’s just the most incredible thing. It is worth everything that it takes to put that in, to make it work. It’s wonderful.”