The Perry Police Department recently had their “Shop With A Cop,” which brought a lot of joy to families.  

Perry Police Chief Eric Vaughn says they took 22 children with a shopping limit of $175 each to businesses such as Ben Franklin’s, Hy-Vee, Dollar Tree or any local stores that the children wanted to go to in town. Vaughn explains the children would shop not just for themselves but their family members as well. He tells Raccoon Valley Radio that this is something they look forward to every year. 

“I think it’s just great. It’s a great opportunity for us to have a good interaction with the people of the community as well as the kids so they understand that there’s somebody they were somebody they can trust and come to, you know, and they were there to help them. That’s the biggest thing is just that connection with the kids. It does great things for the officers, too.”

Vaughn notes that the children got some basic stuff like clothes, shoes, blankets along with getting fun gifts for themselves like Legos and slime.