By Kelly Foreman
RICHMOND — One hundred dollars would quickly burn a hole in any 10-year-old’s pocket.
With a $100 spending limit and a store full of options, Christopher Padron began his Christmas shopping Saturday morning. As he entered the aisles of toys, an East Coast Ryders miniature car caught his eye.
“Can I get one of these for my brother?” Christopher asked.
Christopher was one of more than 30 children who had their own personal $100 shopping sprees Saturday, courtesy of the Shop with a Trooper program sponsored by Kentucky State Police. But on the one day Christopher was given a green light to be selfish, the 10-year-old Richmond boy was anything but.
Among items topping Christopher’s list was a pair of tan Faded Glory work boots. As he pulled off his worn tennis shoes to try on the boots, Christopher explained he wanted the boots so he could go to work with his dad.
“He does bricklaying,” Christopher said.
Once he had the new pair of boots in hand, some new school clothes and other necessities, Christopher headed for the toys. But before selecting anything for himself, Christopher stopped at a display of batteries.
“I need to get some batteries for my mom’s camera so she can take a picture of me with you,” Christopher told Shanna Reeder, wife of KSP Trooper Brian Reeder, who was helping him shop Saturday.
Across the store, Nick McCollum’s laughter rang through the aisles as Sawyer Adams pushed him on a shopping cart. Sawyer, 12, is the son of KSP Trooper First Class Stuart Adams. For more than four years, Stuart Adams said his son has asked to go out and help children less fortunate than himself shop for Christmas.
“I just want to make them feel good,” Sawyer said. “I want to make them have a good Christmas.”
Sawyer helped Nick, 11, and his brother, Austin, 13, in their search for clothes, toy cars, hats and shoes.
“Check it out,” Nick told Sawyer, as he showed off his Fast and the Furious model race car selection. “It comes with changeable tires and everything!”
The Richmond KSP post has been coordinating the Shop with a Trooper program for about 12 years, Stuart Adams said. It’s just one of the programs they are able to do as part of their service to the community.
“It helps us go out and give something back to the community we serve,” Adams said. “In some of our rural counties, the only police officers these kids see are a trooper. So if we can go in in a positive way, it just lets them see us in a good light instead of seeing us as the bad guys all the time.”
Many of the children over the years chosen to receive gifts through the program are those that the officers have seen in the line of duty. Sometimes they’ve come in contact with them through domestic situations or parents who have been arrested. They are children the officers have dealt with and know their home situations, Adams said.
“A lot of these kids wouldn’t know what Christmas was if we didn’t get to help them,” Adams said. “We have kids who were here with us today that don’t have running water. One of the little boys talks about hunting all the time. He’s not hunting, he’s supplying the family — him, his brother and his dad — with food. If we can’t give back to the communities that we work in, there’s something wrong with us.”
Santa Claus and one of his elves handed out candy canes and snapped photos with each of the children before they settled in at McDonald’s for warm Happy Meals.
Nick and Austin each said they had had a lot of fun and talked about their favorite purchases.
“I like my coveralls the best,” Nick said. “I can look like my Pa.”
Pulling his new Louisville cap down over his eyes, Austin said it was his favorite thing amongst the toys and clothes.
“It’s cool,” Austin said.
Watching the joy build on the childrens’ faces and knowing that they are getting what they need, both in necessities and a little fun, is what makes it all worthwhile, Adams said.
“We all have Christmas, and we forget that a lot of times,” he said. “And we get a blessing from it, too. We all feel better come Christmas that we got to do something more than just eat and open gifts for ourselves.”
Kelly Foreman can be reached at kforeman@richmondregister.com or 624-6694.
