Back to School With a Badge

The Pasadena Police Department and the Pasadena Rotary Club once again joined forces in person Thursday to benefit 20 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 youngsters descended upon the Target Store in East Pasadena to spend their money on school supplies, clothes, books, games, or whatever they preferred.

“The Rotary Club funds the event, and the Boys and Girls’ Club selects 20 kids who would benefit from having extra money to shop with at the beginning of the school year,” explained Lieutenant Carlo Montiglio.

“The officers involved also volunteer their time to the event,” he said.

“This is one of the best events that we do,” Montiglio continued, “because you really get to spend a lot of one-on-one time with the individual kids, understand their needs, and have a positive impact on their lives.

“It’s an amazing opportunity for the kids to get to know these officers and spend that time with them as well,” he added.

Steven David Smith, president of the Pasadena Rotary Club, was equally excited about the event, saying, “We love it, and it’s just one of the many service projects that we do at the Rotary Club.”

The “Shop With a Cop” program began in 2015 when then-Rotary Club president Kathy Meagher 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.”

“I’m excited,” said recipient Adaya Parker, 13, of Sierra Madre Middle School. “It’s kinda unexpected, but I’m proud to be chosen.”

Parker was open to “anything” at the store, but the young athlete admitted that volleyball equipment would be high on the list.

Jacob Ivan Salazar, 11, had his eye on some dog stickers, and if he was really lucky, a Harry Potter model train set that he had recently seen on sale online.

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, from t-shirts to jeans, and sneakers to notebooks, perhaps making this year’s return to campus just a little bit easier.

For more about Pasadena Rotary, click here.

For more about the Boys and Girls Club of Pasadena, click here.