Each year during the month of December the Warren County Sheriff’s Department adopts local children to participate in the “Shop with a Deputy Program.” This program is possible due to the fundraising efforts of the Sheriff’s Department Ladies Auxiliary, local donors, and the Warrenton Wal-Mart store.

On the day of the shopping event the children are partnered with a uniformed deputy and a member of our ladies auxiliary, and allowed to spend $100.00 on merchandise at their own discretion at our local Wal-Mart store.

The shopping programs are a rewarding experience for all who participate. Deputies are tested on their knowledge of fitting shoes to little girls, making determinations whether pants fit, and which toy, video game, stuffed animal, or type of skate board was the best. The deputies end the day feeling that they had participated in a very positive activity to benefit the community, and the children were able to interact with the deputies on a personal level having nothing to do with an enforcement contact.

After all the groups are finished shopping, everybody meets back at the Sheriff’s Office so the gifts could be wrapped by the Ladies Auxiliary to be delivered by a deputy at a later date to the child’s home. It is a heartwarming experience to be able to spend time with the children is such a manner, and to know that their Christmas holiday had been made a little better.

When the program was first started in 2007 we sponsored seven children, in 2008 we increased the program to twelve children, and in 2009 we were able to sponsor eighteen children. The eventual goal for the program is that each uniform deputy could adopt a child for the shopping trip. Persons interested in supporting the program for next year are urged to contact the Sheriff’s Department Ladies Auxiliary at auxiliarybd@wcsdmo.net or by calling 636-456-4332 extension 285.