The Kentucky State Police Post 4 did its annual Shop With A Trooper event on December 19th and 20th, 2012. Donations from area businesses and citizens enabled us to spend over $14,080.00. We shopped for over 88 children and provided a pizza party for each of them.
We spent approximately $150.00 on each child at the WalMart in Hillview and Leitchfield, KY providing them with much needed clothing items as well as a few toys for Christmas.
While shopping, troopers were also treated to random acts of kindness from strangers they met along the way. When Grayson County resident Willie Durbin saw one of the children participating in the event admiring his walking cane, the child asked Durbin where he could get a cane like that for his “papaw.” Durbin told him to hang on a minute and that he would be right back. Durbin returned from the parking lot with a cane in hand which he gave the young man to give to his “papaw.” Durbin was not associated with Shop With A Trooper, but was merely a customer in Wal-Mart who saw us shopping with the kids.
Post 4 Detective John Vaughn said it best when he responded to a parent thanking us for shopping for her children. “We at the KSP too often deal with the bad side of society. The children whose innocence is ripped away from them, families who have their piece of mind stripped by a burglar, and lives that are cut short at the thoughtless hand of another. But for a few short hours every year, we are allowed to forget all the bad, and spend time with children from deserving families, and help to make their Christmases a little better and brighter. Their smiles and laughter are thanks enough for us.”
Below are the businesses and citizens who donated to Shop With A Trooper this year:
Wal-Mart, Carl’s Auto Care, Swope Auto Center, Conder’s Army Surplus, Gold Star Realty, Kentucky State Police Professional Association, Jimmy Wickham-Kentucky Cooperage LP, Waste Transport Service, Vine Grove Body Shop, Lewis Auction Company, Nall’s Wrecker Service, Nall’s Specialized Hauling, First Federal Bank, Mouser Custom Cabinetry, Doug’s Towing, Mackin Wrecker Service, Brown Funeral Home, 79 Auto Wrecker Service, HD Transportation, Gold City Towing, Grayson County Probation and Parole, Bluegrass Cellular, Mr. Gattis of Leitchfield.
Brad and Rachel Riley, Paula Buckman, Fred and Sandy Bowen, Lona and Jack Baumgardner, Stephen Mouser, Bill and Marilyn Evans, Farah Buesing, Barbara Key, T. Steven and Judy Bland, Don and Brenda Creason, Glenda Sanders, Brent Williams, and Dennis and Cindy Higdon. Also, many other citizens donated and did not leave their name.














