MARANA- Christmas came early for students in the Marana Unified School District thanks to the Marana Police Department and the Marana Police Volunteers Foundation.
The Marana Police Department’s “Shop with a Cop” event was held on Saturday, December 10th at the Kohl’s on W. Arizona Pavilions Drive in Marana.
“We are so excited to have this event back. With Covid we had to suspend the Shop with a Cop for a couple years and when I pulled up today (December 10th) there were so many officers that it just made my heart warm and the families. We’ve been able to pair up the kids with an officer each individual child…it puts officers in a different light. Let’s say they did have to have an interaction with an officer their hears might not start pounding and they might not feel apprehensive because they’ve had such a great experience,” said Cindy Ruich, Director of Student and Family Support Services with the Marana Unified School District.
20 MUSD students were chosen to receive a $250 gift card to go on a shopping spree with their family and Marana Police Officers.
“This is why I got into policing. It is really nice to give back to the community because we see that reciprocated back towards our department as well so this is what it is all about the team effort and joining up together for the holidays,” said Marana Police Officer Matt Wozniak.
“We both enjoy doing this from the police department’s perspective as well as the volunteers. We volunteers have had careers in our past and most of us have been in a giving mood from the beginning. I love doing this. It is great to work with the community and the department,” said MPD Volunteer Coordinator Tom Cox.
This event was made possible by the money raised during the 2022 “Pride 4 the Patch” golf tournament at the Golf Club at Dove Mountain (Ritz Carlton). The annual tournament was held on Saturday, December 3rd with 144 golfers from around the State including first responders and business partners.
The tournament raised a little more than $14,000 with a portion of that money going toward the “Shop with a Cop” event. The department will also be donating $5,000 to the Marana food bank.
