LYNNWOOD—The Lynnwood Police Department’s second annual Shop with a Cop: Back to School event at Alderwood Mall was a success with over 30 Edmonds School District students walking away with brand new clothes, school supplies, and positive interactions with local law enforcement officers.
The event took place at Alderwood Mall on Tuesday, August 19, from 8:00 a.m. until 10 a.m. – one full hour before the shopping mall opened to the general public.
The day began with coffee and pastries provided by Paris Baguette Lynnwood before each of the 33 students were paired up with one of the 26 uniformed officers representing Lynnwood PD, Mukilteo PD, Washington State Patrol, Issaquah PD, Snohomish County Park Rangers, and U.S. Army recruiters.
“The Lynnwood Police Department has a longstanding partnership with our school district, especially supporting our most disadvantaged schools. We continually look for innovative ways to connect with our young community members while offering tangible support that benefits their families at home. While working on our annual book drive with one of our school partners, we saw a need for back-to-school supplies, particularly clothing and personalized items, for students,” said Nic Li, Community Engagement and Crime Prevention Supervisor. “With many factors at play, such as inflation and a general rise in the cost of living, families are being forced to make difficult choices between food and clothing for their children. That’s when we decided to work with school resource coordinators to adapt our Holiday Shop with a Cop tradition into a Back-to-School event. This event provides students the opportunity to interact with an officer in a relaxed setting while picking out their own back-to-school clothes. This effort wouldn’t have been possible without strong support from our business community, including Macy’s, JCPenney, and Alderwood Mall.”
After a few words from Lynnwood PD Police Chief Cole Langdon and Lynnwood Mayor Christine Frizzel, the students were then free to shop for back-to-school clothes, and supplies, at JCPenny and Macy’s, who each donated $100 gift cards to be used that day.
In addition to the $200 worth of gift cards, JCPenny also donated brand new backpacks to the kids, stuffed to the brim with new and essential school supplies. Both participating retailers also applied a 30-40% discount at the cash register to stretch student’s gift cards even more.
Approximately 90% of the students came from College Place Elementary this year, according to Alice Hanh, Community Engagement and Crime Prevention Specialist at the Lynnwood PD, who organized the event. Most of the students came from families below the poverty line who struggle to afford school supplies every year.
“We specifically identified a couple of schools last year who are the top two schools in the Edmonds School District that have the most need. College Place Elementary is one of those schools so we worked with their Family Resource Advocate and was able to gather these students,” said Hanh.
The Shop with a Cop event was in partnership with the Alderwood Mall, JCPenny, and Macy’s.
This is the second year the Lynnwood PD has hosted its Shop with a Cop: Back to School event following last year’s successful launch on September 3.
Though at that time the back-to-school Shop with a Cop event was the first of its kind the Lynnwood PD has been partnering with the Mukilteo PD, Mountlake Terrace PD, Edmonds PD, and WSP for their annual holiday Shop with a Cop event in December, made possible through the Mukilteo Police Foundation, for many years.
“Our goal was to create lasting memories with youth in our great community. Over 30 kids from our Mukilteo School District were able to participate,” Mukilteo Police Department released in a statement after last year’s event. “We were able to share a meal, shop, and then wrap the gifts together. The night was amazing and magical for every kid, family and officer!”
Shop with a Cop provides a unique opportunity for law enforcement to make a positive contribution to the community by sharing Christmas with children and families.
“We’ve done the holiday Shop with a Cop for many years, which is important in and of itself because it brings up morale for these kids who need it, but we feel like the back-to-school event is especially important because it really does set up these kids for success and confidents – whether it’s just having the supplies they need or coming to school looking and feeling great,” said Hanh. “But on top of providing them with the support they need to look and feel great, it lets them know that there is support coming from law enforcement, to let them know that when they need us they can call us and we’re here to help.”
Upcoming Costumes with a Cop event
Lynnwood PD’s Shop with a Cop events are just one of several community events the local law enforcement hosts annually.
Coming up this month is the Police Department’s Costumes with a Cop on September 27, where more than 200 children can receive a free Halloween costume at the Family Peace Association in Lynnwood, from 10 a.m. until noon (or until costumes run out).
Costumes are for children, from infants to age 14, and donated by community members and local nonprofits (including the Boys and Girls Club).
This event has historically been extremely popular, according to Hanh, with approximately 400 families showing up each year. As supplies are limited, she recommends showing up early to ensure families will receive their free costume (one per child).
Last year the Lynnwood PD gave away about 211 costumes and turned away about 100 families.
Hanh added that the Lynnwood PD is currently working with several local retailers and organizations to see if they can donate coupons for children and families who may, unfortunately, be turned away due to limited supplies; however, no such partnership has been secured as of yet.
In previous years the Lynnwood PD used to craft costumes from scratch but has swapped to donated, pre constructed costumes, in recent years. As the annual goal is to have at least 200 costumes to give away, if the Lynnwood PD is under that goal sometimes, they still get creative, Hanh added.
“It’s a very well attended, well loved, event,” said Hanh.
If members of the public wish to donate new, or gently used Halloween costumes they can drop them off at the Lynnwood Police Station from now until September 19.
Upcoming Teens vs. Cops event
For local teenagers, the Lynnwood PD will also be hosting a brand new event this year called Teens vs. Cops on October 30, in partnership with Dave and Buster’s and Escapology.
This first-of-its-kind event will invite local teenagers to square off against Lynnwood PD officers in competitive video games at Dave and Busters for the chance to win prizes, then work collaboratively to escape a puzzle room at Escapology.
This free-to-attend event is still being worked out in detail so more information should be released as it gets closer to the October 30th date.
Author: Kienan Briscoe
