Pasadena Rotary’s ‘Shop With a Cop’ Sends Some Pasadena Students Back to School a Little Happier and More Prepared

Thwarted more than once by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Pasadena Police Department and the Pasadena Rotary Club once again joined forces in person Thursday to benefit 20 fortunate children from two Boys & Girls Club of Pasadena branches with a “Shop with a Cop” event.

With a $100 gift card in hand and a police officer partner to accompany them, the children descended upon the Target Store in East Pasadena to spend their money on school supplies, clothes, books, games, or whatever they preferred. 

The program was begun in 2015 by then-Rotary Club president Kathy Meagher, who came up with the idea that grant money for back-to-school shopping could be obtained from their local council.

“The first one we did,” recalled Meagher, was ‘Shop with a Cop,’ and then we did bicycles for Christmas.”

Last year with the pandemic preventing get togethers, then-police Chief John Perez visited the Boys & Girls Mackenzie-Scott Branch on North Fair Oaks Ave. to distribute gift cards, which the middle school students then spent on their own Target visits with their parents.

The recipients, Boys and Girls Club members who were chosen on the basis of need, were excited to be selected and surprised to see the officers there at the store in person. 

“This event is actually an officer favorite,” said Sergeant Victor Cass, with the Pasadena Police Community Relations Section. “It’s a great chance for the police officer to pair up with one of the middle school students and go through the aisles with them, and get stuff for school before it starts, things like school supplies. 

Cass continued, “Not every kid has the same opportunity, and every little bit helps, and this goes a long way to augmenting a family’s  ability to help prepare their kids for a new school year.”

Boys & Girls Club of Pasadena CEO Lisa Cavelier said the club was thrilled again to be participating with both the Rotary and Police Department. 

“This is a wonderful event,” said Cavelier. “We pick ten kids from each of our clubhouses, who are maybe more in need, that’s always a goal. We bring the kids here, and they don’t just get a bunch of stuff, they also get a relationship. Life is about relationships, and so the more we can connect kids that they may not have had another chance to have a relationship with, it’s about that connecting point.”

Dylan R., 13, who attends McKinley School, said he was happy and excited about the day, hoping to purchase “hair products and clothes and maybe some games.”

“I was shocked and excited to know I was selected,” said Damian A., 11, of Sierra Madre Middle School. I didn’t know we would actually see cops, so that’s cool.”

Luna B., said she was “sort of scared” at the prospect of all the police officers, “but also excited.” She added that she might purchase some school supplies, but mostly wanted clothes. 

Once paired up with an officer, the students made for the store, emerging finally with a wide range of kid stuff for the school year, perhaps making this year’s return to campus just a little bit easier.