Santa Cop: Rostraver police help make holidays brighter

Shopping for the annual event took place Thursday at Walmart.

The Rostraver Township Police Department, with the help of Belle Vernon Area School District, held another successful Santa Cop shopping event Thursday, guaranteeing smiles on the faces of many children at Christmas.

Officer Austin Hritz picks out a pajama set for one of the children he is sponsoring in the Rostraver Township Police Department’s Santa Cop program. Ladimir Garcia / Mon Valley Independent

Police officers, BVA school counselors and students, along with local officials, were all seen exploring the aisles of the Rostraver Township Walmart, each searching for specific items a district child requested. Police Chief Scott Sokol said they had a great turnout.

“The Mon Valley is very generous and supportive, and without everybody involved taking time to make a contribution, it would not be a great success and it would not be able to continue,” Sokol said.

The police department and the district set

Belle Vernon Area High School senior Lily Crawford hands a bag of purchased gifts to event volunteer Janice Sandy during the Santa Cop program. Jeff Helsel / Mon Valley Independent

up a booth inside Walmart with a Christmas tree next to them that held small white cards with hundreds of wish lists. Sokol said around 400 district students submitted a wish list this year.

Shoppers could pick out a card from the Christmas tree, which listed several items a student asked for. They could purchase items from Walmart for the wish list they chose to sponsor.

Children asked for a variety of items like toys, clothes, bicycles and sometimes even bed sheets or hygiene products.

Stephanie Nese, a counselor at Belle Vernon Area High School, said they send a survey to every student in the district who is in the free and reduced lunch program. From there, students share what they want or need.

“The sad part of it is some of the kids come back with bed sheets, coats, socks, underwear, stuff that we take for granted, deodorant and toothbrushes, and so the school this year, they went out, and they were able to basically provide toothbrushes and toothpaste,” Sokol said. “They did a hygiene drive where they got toothbrushes, toothpaste, deodorant, shampoo and body wash.”

Sokol said the police department spends a lot of time throughout the year fundraising for the event. Sokol and Township Manager Jeffrey Keffer explained that around 30% of the Santa Cop wish list items are bought by residents at Walmart, and around 70% of them are purchased with money fundraised throughout the year.

Sokol said they make sure no child goes without receiving anything and that all lists get fulfilled.

“We’ve had a really fair, generous turnout, and we’ve had a lot of community help come out,” Sokol said. “I’m pleasantly surprised with the turnout we had, given the current economic conditions we’re under.”

Rostraver officers and BVA High School students walked around Walmart, helping purchase items from wish lists with funds that police have raised.

Among the Rostraver police officers helping purchase items was Austin Hritz, who said this was his fourth year doing the program. He was purchasing items for a third-grader at Marion Elementary School.

The student asked for Pokémon and football cards, clothes and other types of toys. Hritz said he aims to sponsor kids whose wishlists might have something he knows about, like Pokémon cards, which he grew up playing with.

From the toy section, he got several Pokémon-related plushies, and in the clothing section, he picked out some pants, T-shirts and even a Pokémon pajama set.

State Rep. Eric Davanzo, R-Smithton, with the help of his wife Rachelle and daughter Brielle, also shopped for kids at the Santa Cop event.

“Rostraver Chief Sokol goes above and beyond here, and makes sure that the Christmas spirit gets to those kids that maybe aren’t as fortunate,” Davanzo said. “And that’s how we change the community here.”

Sokol said today will involve putting everything together for the kids who are receiving the gifts and preparing them to go out to students. Sokol is thankful to the board of commissioners for allowing him to put the event together.

“This project would not be a success without the Rostraver Township Board of Commissioners’ approval to dedicate time to this event,” Sokol said. “This requires a lot of attention and manpower. And also the school district for allowing their guidance office to put this together, without those two entities giving me freedom, it couldn’t happen.”

Keffer and Sokol said immediately as they finished with this year’s Santa Cop program, they’ll start fundraising for next year. Sokol encourages anyone interested in donating to reach out to the police department, adding that people can make out donations to “Rostraver Police Special Donations.”