More than 50 local students had a great day shopping with Durham Regional Police Service (DRPS) officers at Pickering Town Centre as part of the 14th Annual Cop Shop.
The event was one of many Cop Shop initiatives taking place at shopping malls across the country.
Cop Shop partners young people with officers as they get to know each other while shopping for holiday gifts for themselves and their families. This year, the students were brought in a bus to the mall by First Student Inc. The Pickering Town Centre generously provided each child with a $200 gift card from the mall, said a DRPS release.
Following a pizza lunch donated by East Side Mario’s in the mall, the kids spent the afternoon hunting for the perfect gift alongside their police partners. After a day of fun filled shopping, the kids had their gifts all wrapped up.
Chief Paul Martin, Deputy Chief Todd Rollauer and several police leaders were on hand to thank the Pickering Town Centre, East Side Mario’s and all the officers who volunteered their time to act as “personal shoppers” for the kids, the release said.
The Cop Shop event was started several years ago by Halifax Shopping Centre and ran at the same time in Halifax, Pickering, Winnipeg and Calgary. Since then the event has expanded to 11 malls across Canada. This year approximately 300 children are participating.
