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Left to right: Jail Administrator Chris Ivers, Corporal
Robert Brooks, Sheriff Whitney, Linda Bierman, Steven Havey from the Greater
Allegany County Chamber, and Undersheriff Kevin Monroe.
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Allegany County Sheriff Rick Whitney presented a check for
$1,850.00 to Linda Bierman of the Wellsville Kmart store for the annual Shop
with a Cop program. The money was raised through the sheriff’s office
beard-for-bucks program where officers can grow beards from October 1st –
December 31st if they donate $25 to the program, the TRIAD program and private
donations.
This marks the 25th year for the shop with a cop program
that welcomes underprivileged children for a morning of shopping they might not
otherwise experience. Over 2,500 Allegany County children have participated in
the program since its inception.
The program gives each child breakfast with Santa, a wrapped
gift for themselves and cash to shop for gifts for their family. The bonus is
that the children get their “very own cop” to help them with their shopping.
The children, some afraid of police, have a chance to see the officers in a
different setting and get to spend some quality time with an officer.
Once their gifts our chosen and paid for, volunteers and
other community members help the children wrap their gifts in colorful
Christmas paper. Then it’s back home hopefully with memories of a new friend in
a police uniform.
