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FOP
program helps in tough economy
Shop With a Cop serving more
Porter County Sheriff's Officer Paul Czupryn and Alyssa
Burgess, 4, shopped at Walmart for school supplies
Saturday during the annual "Shop with a Cop" event
Susan Emery - Times Correspondent Sunday, August 23,
2009
VALPARAISO | Alexis Ortiz, 9, is going back to school in
style thanks to the generosity of Porter County
authorities and residents.
A fourth-grade student at Central Elementary School in
Portage, Ortiz was among some 130 kids who got to Shop
With a Cop on Saturday morning at the Valparaiso
Wal-Mart.
"I need jeans," Ortiz said. "I like the (ones with)
sparkles."
Sponsored by the Fraternal Order of Police Ewalt Jahnz
Lodge No. 165, the program gives families with low
incomes $100 to buy clothing and school supplies. An
average of 100 kids has been served each year for the
past 20 years.
"This year, with the situation being what it is
economically, we've boosted our totals up," said Susan
Resteau, retired Porter County sheriff's officer and
program coordinator.
A fundraising phone drive took place earlier this year
and -- although donations were down because of the
economy -- the police also were able to raise money
through events such as golf outings, Resteau said.
That was good news for Ortiz and her mother, Jennifer
Milland, who browsed the store accompanied by Porter
County sheriff's patrolman Paul Czupryn. The youngster
pulled a pair of jeans decorated with white sequins off
the rack.
"Alexis doesn't need my judgment when it comes to
picking out jeans," Czupryn joked. "She has pretty good
fashion sense."
Milland held up an outfit for her daughter. "Do you like
this? Would you wear it?"
Mother and daughter also checked out the clearance
racks.
"We can do clearance and get more stuff with the $100,"
Milland said.
Boone Grove sixth-grader Stephanie Embro, 11, and her
brother, Sean Embro, 14, a freshman, came away with
jeans, shirts and socks.
"She likes the latest styles -- whatever the girls are
wearing," their mother, Ruth Montgomery, said. "He
pretty much does his own thing."
The Embros said "thank you" to Resteau before leaving.
"I think it's very generous of them to do this for us,"
Sean Embro said.
TONY V. MARTIN | THE TIMES Officer Paul Czupryn, left,
of the Porter County Sheriff's Department, greets Laura
Campbell and her son Adam Munuz, 6. The Fraternal Order
of Police Lodge 165 sponsor a back to school "Shop With
a Cop" event Saturday at Walmart in Valparaiso, allowing
school-aged children a $100 voucher to purchase clothing
and school supplies.
TONY V. MARTIN | THE TIMES Sheriff's Officer Paul
Czupryn of the Porter County Sheriff's Department,
right, goes shopping Saturday at Wal-Mart in Valparaiso
with Alexis Ortiz, 9, and her family. The family was
taking part in the Shop With a Cop program. |
