People Who Make A Difference

Published in Family Circle Magazine - © 2000

By Katherine Vogel

The kids followed the U-Haul vehicle as if were an ice cream truck.

True there was music, although not the typical light tinkle of the ice cream song. Instead, this was hearty Christmas music being blared by boom boxes.

The men inside the truck were police officers, and they were selling nothing. But they were giving away presents and candy, every so often pulling up to a house. Then a cop dressed as Santa would jump out of the truck and deliver the surprise gifts, all carefully wrapped and containing new toys.

"It was fun," says Roy Reyer, president and one of the founders of Cops Who Care, the Wickenburg Arizona, organization that's been giving away toys to children for 17 years. He looks back fondly on that day in 1982. "The kids loved the candy, the lights and Santa Claus. The parents were so shocked. It was two days before Christmas."

Previously, the police officers had passed a hat among themselves at Christmastime, "It was a tradition," says Roy, who retired in 1998 as a lieutenant in the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office. "Everyone would throw in a buck or two, and we'd choose one family to help."
It got so that every year, the toughest part was figuring out which families were the neediest.

"One year, in 1982, we just said, maybe we can do it bigger," Roy says. Police Officers of the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, the Arizona Department of Public Safety, the Wickenburg Police Department, and the Yavapai County Sheriff's Office decided to do a few mailings, put up some posters, and talk to some businesses. The money and the toys came pouring in, and they soon had enough toys for 250 kids - a minimum of two for each child. "It's fun when you go to "Toys "R" Us and fill about 10 shopping carts," Roy laughs. "People look at you funny."

Social Workers, churches, welfare agencies, and community groups provided the organization with a list of struggling households. They decorated the U-Haul with Christmas lights, added boom boxes, and had one officer dress as Santa Claus, and the group hit the road.

"After the response we got, we figured we've got something good here," Roy says. "The community had jumped right on the bandwagon and said we'll help you any way we can." That they did, and Cops Who Care has expanded each year since.

It's grown to include an Easter egg hunt, a Fourth of July party with leapfrog games and relay races, sponsorship of a T-Ball league and even, on occasion, mini-scholarships to high schoolers who cannot afford school supplies. Their Christmas project remains their largest, though, and last year they helped over 950 children.

"We don't give used toys, Roy says. "Most of the kids who get this stuff always get hand me downs. Their cloths, their toys, Nothing they get is new. For us to give them a new toy, that means something to them. 

One of their biggest sponsors, a car club called Remember When Cruise Association (RWCA), holds a car show in Wickenburg every year. Participants have to bring a toy to be in the show. "Most bring two or three," says Gene Remo, RWCA vice president. "A lot of people collect from their businesses and come with a carload full, It just snowballs."

Cops Who Care couldn't do any of this without the 60 volunteers who wrap the presents. "They have cookies and coffee and punch for us." Says Doris Wilhelm, 69, a senior citizen who's been helping for over a decade. "The more people we have come, the less time it takes. Even then, it takes all afternoon. We all look forward to it, to helping someone else."

As the project has grown, the U-Haul trip has become a thing of the past. Instead, Cops Who Care holds a Christmas party about two weeks before Christmas, at the local community center. The families and children they're helping that year are invited to come and pick up their presents. Children have been so excited and touched by the gifts that they cried.

"It's exhausting work, but when we're all done you can see the smiles," Roy says. For cops, these smiles mean allot. "We're always used to dealing with negative circumstances," says Roy. "The job involves a lot of turmoil and stress. With this, you get a sense of accomplishment."

The good feeling lasts throughout the year, too. "People see that Mr. Police Officer is a human being - that he cares about what is going on in the community - and they get a little different perspective about our jobs. Some end up wanting  to do volunteer work with us."

Roy says their only concern at this time of the year is storing the hundreds of gifts that come in. We keep them in a jail cell," Roy says laughing. "It saves us on overhead, and the toys are safe - they're locked up."