Members of both staffs held tandem drives outside the department headquarters, 909 S. Second Street, on Saturday morning. The police are raising funds for the ‘Shop with a Cop’ program. The Communications Commission is holding its first Christmas food drive to provide Christmas dinners to families in need.

During the drive on Saturday, ‘Shop with a Cop’ raised $1,500 in three hours. Officer Andrew Cole said they usually give about $100 per child so the money raised on Saturday alone will help give gifts to about 15 children.

“It’s going to take on a little bit of a different twist this year because usually the kids go out to the store and shop with us,” Cole said. “We’re trying to be COVID conscious and smart about things — the officers are going to be doing the shopping, some wrapping and delivering for them. So they won’t necessarily know what they’re getting this year.”

The Marshalltown PD in unison with the Fraternal Order of Police has done the ‘Shop with a Cop’ program for more than 20 years, according to Cole. He said in 2008 they were reaching out to about 20 children. Last year they shopped with 100. They are hoping to serve more than 60 this year.

T-R PHOTO BY JOE FISHER - Marshall County Communications specialist Lawrence Springston stacks up donations for the first annual Christmas dinner food drive. Springston hopes to hold more drives in the future.

The program uses nominations from community members and organizations to find children to give to.

While the children aren’t able to accompany officers shopping, they will send a wish list. Cole said they want to give the children the gifts they really want.

“We’ll use the money we raised to get them that and maybe a little something extra to help boost — just so they have a nice Christmas this year and show that we’re not always the bad guy necessarily,” Cole said. “We’re just trying to bridge some of those gaps in our community, not that our community needs that. But we definitely have a community that supports us and we want to show the support back.”

One anonymous community member used ‘Shop with a Cop’ as motivation to quit smoking. He pledged to quit smoking about five weeks ago and he stopped ‘cold turkey.’ He used the money he would normally spend on his habit — which ended up being $340 — and donated it to the program on Saturday. He also urged his friends to do the same.

“He had challenged some of his friends and he actually cut me a check for $620,” Cole said. “There are people out there trying to better themselves, be health conscious and trying to help an organization out. It was pretty cool to have him show up this morning. He should have smoked 850 cigarettes in that time frame, he said.”

T-R PHOTO BY JOE FISHER - Marshalltown police officer Andrew Cole accepts a donation from a community member for ‘Shop with a Cop’ on Saturday. The program raised $1,500 in three hours.

The police will accept donations through this week. Donations can be dropped off at the station or mailed to the Marshalltown Fraternal Order of Police, P.O. Box 362.

Communications specialist Lawrence Springston heard of another Iowa county holding a food drive for Thanksgiving and was inspired to do something similar for Christmas.

“I have amazing employees. They want to really do something to help the community this year,” said Rhonda Braudis, communications manager. “This is kind of the brain child of larry. He’s doing a great job. We’re getting a lot of donations. We’re just excited to be able to give something back to the community.”

Marshall County Communications has donation boxes set up in several locations, which are:

• Police Department: 909 S. Second Street

• Marshall County Sheriff’s Office: 2369 Jessup Avenue

• Oliver Beene Designs: 1714 S. Center Street

• Aaron’s: 2901 S. Center Street

The food drive is on track to help at least more than 30 families have a Christmas dinner.

Some of the items to consider for donation are drink mixes, canned food, stuffing, hams, turkeys, rolls and monetary donations.

“We’ll try to help as many as we can. Then we’ll pick up the slack as dispatchers, we’ll buy whatever we don’t get as donations, we’ll take care of it and help these families out and get them a hot meal and a little bit extra this year,” Springston said. “Just to show them a sense of positivity and let them know we do care. We’re more than just voices on the radios and phones for people. We have families and we do care about our community.”

Dec. 16 is the last day to donate to the Christmas food drive. Meals will be delivered on Dec. 23. If making a monetary donation for the food drive at the police department, make sure to note what your donation is for.

“We’re all excited to see how it goes. Hopefully this is our first year of many to come,” Springston said.

Marshall County Communications Food Drive

To nominate a family or ask any questions, contact Lawrence Springston lspringston@marshalltown-ia.gov or communications supervisor Tiffany Eibs teibs@marshalltown-ia.gov.

Special arrangements for perishable donations, contact director Rhonda Braudis rbraudis@marshalltown-ia.gov.

Shop With a Cop

The police will accept donations through this week. Donations can be dropped off at the station or mailed to the Marshalltown Fraternal Order of Police, P.O. Box 362.

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Contact Joe Fisher at 641-753-6611 or jfisher@timesrepublican.com