7th Annual Shop with a Cop/Firefighter held

On December 12th The Drexel Police and Fire Department put on the 7th annual Shop with a Cop or Firefighter for several local children. The day started with a breakfast prepared by Barb Taylor and Caroline Showalter including pancakes, cinnamon rolls and sausage for the kids and their families.  The breakfast was funded by the Drexel Lions Club. The children loaded onto a bus donated by John Gunnels and headed to the Harrisonville Walmart singing Christmas songs the entire way. There, the group met up with Cass County DARE officers who also selected two children to go shopping. The Cleveland Police Department and Dolan West Dolan Fire Department also put on a similar program and had twelve children in attendance. Each child was given a $100 gift card and they shopped for about an hour and picked up gifts for themselves and their families. Everyone returned to Drexel around noon and the kids wrapped what gifts they wanted to with the assistance of Lion’s Club members Sue Bush-Wishon and Greg Mullinex. “I cannot thank everybody enough for the time and money that was donated,” says Jon Carpenter, Drexel Police Chief. “The expressions on these kids faces and the joy they felt could not be put into words. Thank you everybody who helped make this program another success this year.” 
Pictured: Firefighter Tyler Thompson and Junior Firefighter Cindy Cordil help children pick gifts. Courtesy photos