Zebulon — The police department is teaming up with Wal-Mart and the Department of Social Services to spread the Christmas cheer to 10 underprivileged children in the local area.

Shop with a Cop, a program mirrored in communities all over the nation, is designed to raise funding to give the selected children items they need, but beyond that items they want for Christmas.

Social Services selected 10 children, who on Saturday, Dec. 13, will have the opportunity to shop for presents with one of 10 Zebulon Police officers and possibly their families, as well.

Wal-Mart, the host for the event, is supplying snacks, goodie bags and a present for each child. Beyond such offerings, the police department is trying to raise more money to help the children have a christmas they might not normally have.

“We’ve had some donations, but we’re still looking out to businesses in the community, civic organizations, faith organizations and all individuals who would like to donate for a good cause,” Zebulon police Lt. Mike McGlothlin said.

One group has already committed to matching up to $500 other groups or individuals donate. Some officers are even pulling from their own pockets, and once all the money is collected it will be evenly distributed between the 10 children.

The police department has never held the event to the extent it intends to this year, but has held similar events on a smaller scale. McGlothlin was involved with Shop with a Cop in Fayetteville years back and said it was a great success — just another way the police department can give back to the community.

“Wal-Mart’s been great to host the event, but we still want to be able to give the kids as much as we can,” McGlothlin said.

At 9 a.m. on the day of the event, officers will pair up with the children at Wal-Mart and help them choose items of necessity in addition to leisure items.

“It’s another way to try and help these kids in the holiday season. All the kids are from Zebulon, and sure, they get to see the police in a good light, but it’s all about doing something nice for the kids,” McGlothlin said. “As the community grows, we’d like this program to grow. We’d like it to become an annual event.”

Donations are being gladly accepted at the police department, and McGlothlin stressed to those interested that all money raised ends up with the kids.

For more information, or to make a donation for Shop with a Cop, call McGlothlin at the department at 269-7455, ext. 234.