 As a way to bring a little extra holiday cheer to some lucky kids, the Kentucky State Police will be holding their annual Shop with a Trooper event on December 15th. We caught up with Public Affairs Officer Michael Coleman to find out more information on this very special event. Shop with a Trooper is a longstanding tradition for not only post 9 but post all throughout the Commonwealth. Every year we take a certain amount of kid shopping for Christmas gifts just so that we make sure that all the kids that we can take shopping get Christmas gifts on Christmas morning. Trooper Coleman also explained just some of what goes into making the event such a success each year and why the children are so excited to take part. We work real close with the family resource centers at the schools to figure out which kids are best deserving and can most need the gifts this Christmas. Here at post 9 on average we take about 73 kids shopping each year. They come from the elementary schools in the five counties that we cover which is Pike, Floyd, Martin, McGoffin and Johnson counties. This family resource center helps us choose the children because they know who needs it most. So once those kids arrive at Walmart we'll actually assign them to a trooper and they'll go shopping for the day. They usually get somewhere between $100 to $150 just depending on how much money was raised throughout the year. After that we take all the kids over to McDonald's where they're grateful enough to feed them for us. So we sit down and get to have a lunch with them. It gives us time to kind of interact with them, get to know their back story, just make friends with them and build a bond that hopefully lasts a lifetime. Before they leave though we always purchase a ham and then save the law. Always don't let us a food basket so that each kid goes home with the fixings for a Christmas dinner. Trooper Coleman explained what makes the event so important to the state police and why they're happy to do it each year. This event is a memorable moment for not only us but the children. A lot of these kids as you go into the store you start shopping with them. The first thing they want to do is buy for either their mom, their sibling, or someone else in their family before they ever think about buying anything for their self. So you really know that these kids are the ones that most deserve to be in this program. If you're interested in donating to the Shop with the Trooper event, donations are accepted all year long. Yeah so we're always accepting donations throughout the year. Even if you come in in January those donations are going to go for Shop with the Trooper next year. Any time you give a donation that's for Shop with the Trooper it always stays there. If you'd like to donate you can contact us at 606-433-7711 or just stop by here at the post. If you have a donation you talk to drop-off, you can leave it at the radio room. They'll get it to us. For now on Top News, I'm Josh Willis-Lon.