Final kids get to Shop With a Cop

The smile on Mevelyn Battle’s face couldn’t have been wider as her three children, Kamron, 5; Tymir, 6, and Sanayah, 2, roamed the aisles of the East Rome Walmart to complete the 2017 Shop With a Cop program. “This is huge, we’ve had a hard year,” Battle said while helping her 2-year-old daughter Sanayah Battle pick out a new doll Tuesday night.

The Rome Chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police spent $14,100 this year helping more than 60 children have a merrier Christmas. Each child was allowed to pick up to $200 worth of gifts.

This year, a special T-shirt sale, which is still going on, was the biggest fundraiser for the FOP. During Tuesday night’s shopping adventure, while Tymir Battle was pointing Sgt. Chris Fincher to video games, a woman crossed the aisle and handed Fincher a $20 bill.

The Battle family moved to Rome from Columbus, Ohio, nine months ago, and little Kamron and Tymir told Floyd County Pfc. Jerome Poole and Fincher that they were in kindergarten and first grade at West Central Elementary School respectively.

Most of the shopping was done last Saturday, however, Battle’s job is a seven-day-a-week job and she couldn’t get time off until Tuesday night to bring her children out for some time with officers Fincher and Poole.

“I was actually very surprised that we were picked,” Mevelyn said. “This is definitely the bright spot of the year.”

Fincher said all the children who were chosen for the special Christmas program were identified by their school counselors as legitimately needy. Some of the families were identified by officers during chance encounters over the course of the year.

“This year was one of our largest turnouts,” Fincher said.

Poole, who currently serves as treasurer of the FOP, said he’s been involved with the Shop With a Cop program from the outset. “I’ve always enjoyed it, I love spending the time with the kids,” Poole said.

T-shirts are still available at the Floyd County Police headquarters in the Joint Law Enforcement Center on Fifth Avenue. Prices range from $8 to $20.

Photos by Doug Walker, Rome News-Tribune There’s still time to buy a fundraising T-shirt ABOVE: Kamron Battle, 5, shows Floyd County Police Public Information Officer Jerome Poole an action truck that he picked. LEFT: Sgt. Chris Fincher checks the age appropriateness of a toy selected by...