Nine kids from the Chattahoochee area got a chance, last month, to ‘Shop With A Cop’ for Christmas toys.
“The turnout was awesome,” said Chattahoochee Chief of Police Deric Mordica.
The Shop With A Cop Christmas toy program is one that the Chattahoochee Police Department is in its second year operating, and Chief Mordica hopes to see the program grow in the next 12 months before December 2022.
This year, the Chattahoochee Shop With A Cop was funded through donations from city council members and Stacy Hannigan (who runs a community organization in Chattahoochee), but Chief Mordica says he hopes – in the upcoming years – to see more local businesses get involved in the Shop With A Cop funding.
“Going into the future, I’m going to reach out to local businesses throughout the year and by the time we reach December, we’ll have a lot of money that we can put towards the children,” said Mordica.
Chief Mordica joined the Chattahoochee Police Department last year, making December 2021 his first year with the Chattahoochee program – but Mordica says he has previous experiance with Midway’s Shop With A Cop program (where he was an officer and chief of police), and he is basing his future goals for Chattahoochee on the success he saw in Midway.
In Midway, Chief Mordica said he oversaw a large Christmas program that had a massive turnout of local kids – he wants the same for Chattahoochee.
“We definitely want to generate bigger turnouts,” said Mordica. “We had nine kids this year, and I want to aim for 15-20 kids next year.”
Chief Mordica says he is also hoping to make the Shop With A Cop program bigger and better for the kids themselves – primarily through special transportation and a pre-shopping party for the kids.
“I want to put all the kids on that bus, then have our officers escort the kids – with their lights on – all the way to Quincy,” said Mordica. “It would just be something to make the kids feel special.”
While the department is not yet set up to receive donations, Chief Mordica says he will be visiting businesses throughout the year to seek donations and sponsorships for the 2022 Shop With A Cop program.
“I think we will grow this program. I hope to be overwhelmed. The more kids, the merrier,” said Mordica. ““If we get more funds, we can help every kid every year.”
Ashley Hunter – editor@prioritynews.net
