T-R PHOTO BY NICK BAUR Officers from the Marshalltown Police Department and Marshall County Sheriff’s Office took over 90 local youth shopping where they were able to spend $100 on gifts for themselves and their families.

Area law enforcement helped spread some holiday cheer over the past two days, with officers from Marshalltown Police Department and the Marshall County Sheriff’s Office taking part in the annual “Shop with a Cop” philanthropic event.

Over 90 area youth descended on the Marshalltown Walmart to buy gifts for themselves and their relatives.

As in years past, attendees were given $100 and paired with members of a local law enforcement agency, who helped guide them through their holiday shopping.

Though officers often serve merely as calculators and cart pushers during the time, the impact on both parties can have overwhelmingly positive effects.

“A lot of the officers always seem to have a good time with it. Kids seem to have a good time with it. It’s changed a lot of lives here and there,” said MPD Detective Steve Sheets, who helped spearhead the community outreach. “I’ve had a couple of kids come up to us and say, ‘Hey, you don’t know what that did for us when we were younger.'”

Participants are chosen based on referrals from other officials, such as Marshall County school districts, Big Brothers, Big Sisters, YSS, and MPACT. Funds for the event were provided by the Marshalltown branch of the Fraternal Order of Police, whose recent fundraising successes have helped propel the organization to serve more children each year at the event.

“I think we’ve just been a little bit more successful fundraising, so we can help more people now,” Sheets said. “We’re trying to help people who need it, not the people who just want it.”

With numbers as low as 20 kids participating more than five years ago, Sheetz relayed that the increase in available funds motivates them to not only continue this event each year, but also to pursue other opportunities for community outreach as well.

“We try not to keep too much of the money that we raise,” Sheets said. “We try to spend it as much as we can. It doesn’t do any good sitting in a savings account.”

While toys were the most popular purchases, some kids could be seen in the adult clothing section or browsing for decor, trying to find gifts for other members of their families.

The past two years, children were also given a pair of shoes on top of the $100, further encouraging participation and providing some solace for families in need as the weather grows increasingly colder.

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Contact Nick Baur at 641-753-6611 or

nbaur@timesrepublican.com.