Local FOP Makes Children's Christmas Wishes Come True
Posted
Siara Sparkman-ssparkman@timesuniononline.com
Kosciusko County Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 149 took turns loading carts at Walmart full of toys and clothes to make some children’s Christmas wishes come true. Monday evening marked the annual “Christmas With Cops.” FOP Vice President Jim Smith said there were 52 kids benefitting this year from this program. Each of the children had a predetermined spending limit. Smith said by the end of the night, the lodge would be helping 60 families. Twenty officers from the Warsaw Police Department, Winona Lake Police Department, Claypool Police Department and Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Department assisted with the event this year. Smith said this is an exciting event for the lodge and he is thankful for all of the donations that make this event possible. “The smiles on the kid’s faces, it’s just second to none being able to help these kids out,” Smith said. “It means the world to us.” Claypool Town Marshal Lou Mediano helped at “Christmas With the Cops” for the first time this year. “Everybody that is willing to help comes out,” Mediano said. “We all look forward to doing this as much as the kids do, and it’s as much fun for us, as the children.” Eight-year-old twins Denzil and Dylan King had a cart full of shoes, Call of Duty Legos® and clothes. They were on a mission to spend their remaining money. Even though they wanted an Xbox®, Dylan said he was “trying to look for something for $20.” Corporal Chris Rager has worked this event for 10 years. He said he enjoys interacting with the parents and kids at the event because the kids are so deserving. “With things going on nowadays, this is a pretty good way to show the community we still care,” Rager said. Seven-year-old Brody Easterline had his heart set on one thing the whole night. He has a Leap Pad® at home, but he said it has a scratch on the screen, so when he finally found his Vtech InnoTab®, he was ecstatic. “I have been looking all over,” Easterline said. “I think it comes with rechargeable batteries.” Foster parent and officer Rich Miotto said this event was the perfect timing this year. “It’s great because we really needed the help this year with this new situation,” Miotto said. Miotto said he enjoyed watching the children pick out all of the items they wanted for Christmas and watch the children interacting with the police officers. He said “Christmas with the Cops” is a nice change of pace from his usual workload. “With society today, being able to trust police officers is amazing,” Miotto said. “This time of the year, everyone’s hurting and we have a pretty big family and I didn’t know how we would do it without this program.”
