‘Shop with a Cop’ for Christmas in Bonita rewards children who wrote essays
Carts and children jammed all of the toy aisles. Everyone had a list of toys — some went as far as 30.
And behind every cart was a Lee County Sheriff’s Office deputy helping with the free Christmas shopping trip.
The fifth annual Holiday Shop with a Cop started with six deputy cruisers stacked with board games, Nerf guns and all other sorts of toys.
The 15 children picked by deputies from Bonita Springs schools stood in front of the smorgasbord.
“You are all here because of how great your essays were,” Deputy Andrew Clark said. “You’ve got some great kids here.”
The Bonita Springs Community Policing Unit set forth a challenge to every student in kindergarten through fifth grade at Bonita Springs Elementary, Spring Creek Elementary and Bonita Springs Charter School — write an essay about your favorite way to help others.
“We got 2,000 essays back,” Lt. Brian Przespolewski said. “The deputies went through every one and picked a winner and a runner-up.”
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One student from every grade at every school chosen by deputies got a $150 shopping spree at the Coconut Point Target on Thursday. The fifth-grade students were given bikes donated by Target.
“Donations from community businesses and residents let us do this event,” Przespolewski said. “All donations we get go right back into the community.”
The toys laid out on the deputies' cruisers were not for the winners — they were for brothers and sisters.
“These kids have such big hearts that they would use their money for presents to their siblings or parents,” Przespolewski said. “We make sure they can get some gifts for family and spend that $150 on themselves.”
Nathalie Meza, a second-grader from Springs Creek, walked back to her parents holding an Elmo toy and a Nerf football.
“She has an older brother, two younger sisters and an infant brother,” her father, Jorge Meza, said.
He didn’t even know his daughter had put in for the event, thinking instead it was another homework assignment like those that Nathalie spends so much time working on.
“She loves to write, and she’s really good,” Jorge Meza said. “We read to her and her brothers and sisters every night, and sometimes she’ll read instead of me.”
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Even though Nathalie is a good writer, she didn’t expect to win over all of her schoolmates.
“I’m really excited,” she said, holding a Christmas list. “I have some things picked out.”
Nathalie spent three hours in the Target toy section the night before the big day to go through every single doll and pick her favorites.
Shopping for five children can get expensive very quickly, Jorge Meza said, and Nathalie’s win made for a very special Christmas.
“There’s only so much you can get with five kids,” Jorge Meza said. “I’ve got to thank (Shop with a Cop) — it’s a fantastic program.”
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Before the search for toys began, each deputy was paired with the student selected by the deputy as a winner.
Przespolewski said this is an event everyone looks forward to.
“This is one of our favorite ways of helping others,” he said. “There are so many good students out there. This really helps with their education. They have to write and improve their skills for this essay.”
Deputies know some families can’t afford to spend hundreds of dollars on presents, and they want to help the community.
“It’s great that we can go out and show our faces in the schools and to these kids,” Clark said. “There is a lot of bad in the world, but this is doing some good.”
