Police Officers (Mostly School Resource Officers and/or D.A.R.E. Officers) from several area Police Departments, including Collinsville, Edwardsville. Fairview Heights, Glen Carbon and Cahokia, work with school children aged 9-12 to build rapport with at risk or underserved children in their respective school districts. Officers select children based on their availability to interact with them thr
ough their everyday duties at the school and usually take 2-3 kids to a week long day camp in mid summer. The camp is completely free to the kids and their families and Officers solicit donations to provide funding for the camp. Each day of camp, the child is picked up by the Officer in a marked squad car and they are transported to and from camp. Breakfast and lunch are provided as well as whatever daily activity is scheduled. Some of the past year's camp activities include St. Louis City Museum, the Zoo, a tour of Busch Stadium, Edison's in Edwardsville, The Science Center and demonstrations of K-9 units. Officers stay in contact with the kids by sending birthday cards with McDonalds money it in on the child's birthday and this year, we were able to host a Christmas party, where children were given a $100.00 gift card to shop for themselves and their family members (which they were encouraged to do). Many kids spent very little on themselves and chose instead to bless their parents and siblings.
