9th Annual Shop with a Cop Event

Team Kids facilitates a great deal of inspirational moments throughout the year as we empower our youngest leaders to change the world, but our annual Shop With a Cop is hard to rival.

The children from the domestic violence shelters, Human Options and The Second Step, and their courageous mothers have been through heartbreaking challenges. Our caring partners at Irvine Police Department and The City of Irvine recognize this and for the 9th consecutive year helped us spread the true spirit of the holiday season to these families.

At our 9th Annual Shop with a Cop, we witnessed our Irvine police officers shop for the kids in reindeer antlers. Then they entered the room with bags stuffed with toys for the kids. (Video link here for you to see). The kids’ eyes lit up and the excitement they experienced was infectious. But the truly remarkable moments of the night were the tears of joy in the mothers’ eyes and the looks of adoration the kids gave to their officers as they played together. As the evening winded down, every table was filled with a police officer and a mother engaging in heartfelt conversation, genuinely connecting with each other in the most elegant way. Team Kids’ Shop With a Cop is all about connection: the connection to each other, the connection to community, and the universal human connection to hope.

“This has truly just touched and warmed my heart. I feel important and loved. It has also taken away the stress of not being able to provide this type of Christmas on my own.”