New Bedford children will Shop with a Cop Saturday at Target

Sixty to 75 New Bedford children will go Christmas shopping Saturday, Dec. 10, with some special companions: Members of the New Bedford Police Department.

The New Bedford Police Department will participate in Shop with a Cop, a program that matches police officers with disadvantaged children in the community.

On that day, police officers dressed in uniform will be paired off with a child for a shopping trip at Target in Dartmouth. The child will purchase gifts for his or her siblings and a present for himself or herself.

Money for the gifts was donated by the New Bedford Police Union, Target and individual officers.

The day will begin at 8:15 a.m. when the children, riding in two Tremblay buses, will travel from police headquarters at 871 Rockdale Ave. to the Target on Route 6 in Dartmouth. They will be escorted by police cruisers and motorcycles.

The children and their police companions will shop at Target from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. They will then be transported to Buster’s Sports Bar & Grill on Route 6 in Dartmouth for pizza and ice cream, courtesy of the restaurant, before being bused back to the station at 11:30 a.m.