Tallapoosa County Ranch Girls Given Opportunity for a ‘Shop with a Cop’ Shopping Spree
Academy Sports + Outdoors held a special shopping spree for some local children. The children selected this year were from the Tallapoosa County Girls Ranch.
On December 8, the Tallapoosa County Girls Ranch were given the opportunity to have a surprise holiday Shop with a Cop.
Molly Gray, who is the Communications Coordinator for the Alabama Sheriff’s Youth Ranches, had this to say about what this shopping spree means for the kids.
“They don’t get to do this,” stated Gray. “This is not something that they get to do everyday, like recently they just went to buy a Christmas tree and so many of the girls had never done that before. ”
Academy Sports gave this generous shopping spree to a group of children who really needed it this holiday season. You probably remember the tragic I-65 accident back in June 2021, where 8 Tallapoosa Ranch girls lost their lives. Along with the tragedy and difficult situations in their lives, the children are finally able to enjoy themselves.
“They’ve been through so much this year with the tragedy and just with school and everything that goes on in their lives and this opportunity to just relax and have fun and just to see the joy on their faces means so much to us, as the ranches, but just for these girls,” stated Gray.
17 Children from the girls ranch were given $200 each to spend at Academy Sports. They also had a Conservation Enforcement Officer alongside them to help them in their shopping spree.
Commissioner of the Department of Conservation Natural Resources Chris Blankenship had this to say about the Shop with a Cop event.
“This is a great opportunity for the law enforcement community to be able to spend some time with other people and to see them in a different light, not in the field or if it’s coming to some call they’ve had but to spend some time with them one on one,” stated Blankenship.
The children were able to buy anything they wanted, from clothes to outdoor equipment.
“I’ve seen them with some clothes, I’ve seen some good sporting equipment, and I even saw them with some hunting and fishing tackles,” stated Blankenship.
The Alabama Conservation Enforcement Officers Association is also donating an additional $1,000 in Academy gift cards to cover any purchases the children may need throughout the year.
The Shop with a Cop didn’t just happen in Montgomery, but also took place in Florence and Foley Alabama.
