Shop ’till you fall: Deputies take little ones on Christmas procuring spree

ROCKINGHAM — It started off out as a frequent Saturday afternoon for Diasia Littlejohn and Dequan Wilson. They introduced their youthful daughter, Ja’Nyvia Littlejohn, to Walmart to store.

As they arrived, they recognized a amount of Richmond County Sheriff’s deputies gathered outside the store. Asking yourself what the commotion was about, they questioned if some thing experienced occurred.

The deputies weren’t there on formal enterprise — they had been there for the 1st Store with a Deputy browsing spree, and Diasia was stunned when the deputies then invited her and Wilson to carry minimal Ja’Nyvia alongside to take part.

Alongside with Ja’Nyvia and her relatives, the Richmond County Sheriff’s Workplace invited 22 little ones from the Richmond County University process to take part in its very first holiday Store with a Deputy celebration at Walmart on Saturday.

“We get them browsing, we pair them with a deputy and permit them to have that relationship with that deputy,” said Sheriff James Clemmons. “Our obligation is to all the small children we come in make contact with with — to foster those interactions that operate to help our communities, alongside with the parents. It lets persons know there’s a lot more to us than just locking someone up.

“It’s about sharing with our local community and supplying back to the community,” Clemmons continued.

Equivalent to Rockingham Law enforcement Department’s Store with a Cop method, every child was partnered with a deputy and provided about $300 to spend on whichever they preferred for Christmas.

The young ones had been divided into two teams, the to start with team of 10 went on the searching spree at 9 a.m., whilst the next team of 12 had their change at 1 p.m.

Clemmons claimed about $7,000 had been raised from the collaboration involving the Sheriff’s Office environment, neighborhood churches and corporations, which was divided between the young children to invest. Without the donations from community corporations, Store with a Deputy would not have been probable, Clemmons emphasised.

“We all consider in coming jointly in Richmond County,” he stated. “We’re incredibly unique. Richmond County is about household. It’s about coming with each other to make issues improved. We understand the items that are taking place about us, the things that are heading on. It’s just a excellent prospect to do the job with our neighborhood and give back to the youngsters. It is our way of expressing, we’re a component of the neighborhood and we have an understanding of.”

Diasia and Wilson were grateful to the deputies for the prospect to purchase Ja’Nyvia some new apparel, as nicely as some other materials and requirements for the young toddler.

“It signifies a total whole lot — a total lot to us,” Diasia stated. “With all the stuff going on, it is really hard to discover the time and preserve a position. It was a blessing.”

As soon as they got into the retail store, quite a few of the kids went straight to the electronics segment. One of the more mature children, a teen, preferred a new Android cellphone, whilst another youthful boy required a pair of headphones, amid other objects.

Three youthful girls, who are also sisters, amassed 3 entire carts of dolls and other toys and merchandise, like a life-dimension toy play kitchen area.

1 boy had geared up a checklist of all the things he wanted, in accordance to the deputy he was partnered with. On that record was myriad of objects, including a bike and a bicycle helmet, alongside with a distant-manage auto and quite a few sports toys, like a football and a soccer ball.

“No speeding!” Clemmons joked with the boy about his new bicycle. “Remember the pace restrict in the town is 35 mph!”

Some children went a tiny bit about the $300 limit, but the deputies created it operate, however, so that the young children could get what they wished.