Shop with a cop
Charles H. Featherstone/Columbia Basin Herald Above: Grant County Sheriff’s Deputy Dustin Canfield waits while nine-year-old Danica Groff talks with her mother Tiffany about winter dresses. Groff was one of 11 children who got the opportunity Wednesday to “Shop With a Cop.” Below: Chief Deputy Darrik Gregg and Undersheriff Dave Ponozzo get ready to take more families shopping.
Charles H. Featherstone/Columbia Basin Herald Chief Deputy Darrik Gregg and Undersheriff Dave Ponozzo get ready to take families shopping on Wednesday at the Walmart in Moses Lake.
MOSES LAKE — Danica Groff was having a hard time choosing a Christmas present for herself.
She’d bought herself a pair of shiny black shoes with bows on the tops. And a pretty red Christmas dress.
But the 9-year-old spent most of her time Wednesday evening getting gifts for family members and those close to her. A toy car for her brother. Shoes and a dress for her younger sister. A secret gift for her mother, and something special for her grandmother. Those were easy gifts to get.
“I wanted them to have a good Christmas too,” Groff said in a soft voice.
But Groff took her time wondering what she really wanted.
“You should probably get something for yourself. What do you like?” asked Dustin Canfield, a Grant County sheriff’s deputy, as he crouched next to her in the toy aisle of the Moses Lake Walmart, helping her examine all her choices.
Canfield escorted Groff and her mother Tiffany around Walmart Wednesday evening as one of eleven kids — with their families — chosen to “Shop With a Cop” this week.
According to Grant County Chief Deputy Darrik Gregg, each child was given a $250 Walmart gift card and a law enforcement escort from either the Grant County Sheriff’s Department or the Moses Lake police to help them make their way around the store.
“We started with a grant from the Walmart Foundation of $2,500 at this store, and then some funds raised from some sources in the community that wished to remain anonymous, so we could give 11 kids $250 each,” Gregg said.
The children were picked by the Moses Lake schools as kids who had “worked hard” in difficult situations to earn their shopping trip with a police officer.
Groff’s mother Tiffany said that Danica has had a hard time coping with the fact that her father has been in and out of jail for the last several years.
“It’s hard to tell her,” the mother said. “She doesn’t understand.”
Canfield, who patiently followed his 9-year-old charge from one part of the store to the other, said this was his first year being the cop someone shopped with, and he was really enjoying it.
“This is a blast,” Canfield said. “So far, she’s only bought one thing for herself.”
But, shopping cart filled with things for her family, Groff finally decided — a make-up set and robot pet.
At the checkout line, he hands her the gift card.
“Right at our mark,” Canfield said as Groff smiled. “A little over, but not by much.”
Charles H. Featherstone can be reached via email at countygvt@columbiabasinherald.com.