Donation benefits Shop with the Blue
Presents came early for Mike Vorhees, sheriff of Auglaize County and one of the co-chairpersons for Shop with the Blue [formerly Shop with a Cop], as the sheriff’s office received a donation for their holiday shopping program.
Members of the Shop with the Blue program have been collecting money since August, and on Nov. 30 members of the committee will decide which children they’ll shop for. Shop with a Cop was discontinued after the Fraternal Order of Police, the organization that formerly ran the program, was disbanded.
Krista Opperman, broker and owner of Plus One Professional Real Estate, was at the sheriff’s office Thursday afternoon to deliver a $1,000 check on behalf of the Midwest Ohio Association of Realtors. The company donates checks to each of the six counties - Mercer, Shelby, Logan, Champaign, Miami and Auglaize - they represent.
“Every year we choose a beneficiary to a charity, and for the last few years this is the operation we’ve chosen [for Auglaize County),” Opperman said.
Vorhees said members of the organization, including the Ohio State Highway Patrol, St. Marys Police Department, Wapakoneta Police Department, the Auglaize County Prosecutor’s Office and the Minster Police Department, were all collecting applications.
“This is not a Sheriff’s Office thing,” Vorhees said. “This is county-wide law enforcement
Currently, he said donations are over $12,000 and predicted they’ll have another $3,000 in donations before the actual shopping spree starts.
That number was good news for Vorhees.
“I think we’re doing well,” he said. “It’s hard to say, but it sounds like donations are up. Talking with past chairmen from the FOP lodge, it sounds like we’re right on
track or even better.“
Over 25 families have applied through the Sheriff’s Office alone, and that’s not counting the nine other law enforcement agencies involved. In the past, Shop with a Cop has received as many as 80-90 applications.
“We try not to turn too many families down,” he said, referring to the organization’s work with Jobs and Family Services in determining who needs the assistance.
Actual shopping will be Dec. 18 at the Wapakoneta Walmart after everyone meets at the Knights of Columbus Hall on 25A.
The other co-chairs for Shop with the Blue are Heather Mahaffey of juvenile probation and Shannon Place, lieutenant at Wapakoneta Police Department.
Donations are accepted year-round. Visit thesmcf.org and click on the donation page to make either a checking or credit card payment. Checks are payable to Shop with the Blue. They can also be mailed to St. Marys Community Foundation, 206 E. Spring St., St. Marys, OH 45885.