Santa Cops on Patrol for Loudoun Kids

By Kyle Hansen

Monday, December 10, 2007

At age 11, Pierre Kouam already knows that he wants to be a pastor when he grows up. Thanks to Santa Cop program, he now has a new pair of shoes and a suit to wear to church, and other clothes to wear to school.

“I want an outfit that goes with everything,” Kouam said Saturday as he hurried into the shoes section of the Leesburg Target, 1200 Edwards Ferry Road N.E.

“Me too,” said little brother Alain Kouam, 8, following close behind.

The Kouams were two of more than 50 kids from Loudoun who were given a $200 shopping spree at Target Saturday morning as a gift from the Loudoun-Dulles Lodge of the Fraternal Order of Police.

The FOP group has been sponsoring the event every year since the lodge opened in 1998. Its 150 members represent a variety of local, state and federal law enforcement agencies.

FOP Vice President Ken Fognano helped the Kouams pick out what they wanted at the store.

“To me, it's what being a cop is all about,” the Loudoun County sheriff's investigator said. “The youth are the most important part of my job.”

The FOP worked with Loudoun schools to identify children whose families might not be able to afford holiday gifts. Money for the event was mostly raised through a letter-writing campaign soliciting donations from local residents.

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The Santa Cops

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Loudoun County sheriff investigator Ken Fognano looks at shoes with brothers Pierre, 12, and Alain Koam, 8. (Kyle Hansen)

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Thomas Castleberry puts a toy into the cart. (Kyle Hansen)

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Loudoun County Sheriff investigator Ken Fognano hows a pair of shoes to Alain Kouam. (Kyle Hansen)

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Alain Kouam tries on a pair of shoes. (Kyle Hansen)

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Kyanna Miller, 6, reaches for a water bottle during the Santa Cop toy giveaway. (Kyle Hansen)

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Ken Larson from the Fairfax County Sheriff's Office hands a bottle to Kyanna Miller. (Kyle Hansen)

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Target employee Lisa Garriss helps Karen Alcon, 7, put a toy into a shopping cart. (Kyle Hansen)

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Karen Alcon gets a gift from Santa Claus. (Kyle Hansen)

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Lt. Ed Leonard helps Austin Cox, 9, check out at Target. The toys and clothing were purchased using donations to the Fraternal Order of Police. (Kyle Hansen)

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Austin Cox and Lt. Ed Leonard show Austin's great-grandmother, Mary Hylton, the things they picked out at Target. (Kyle Hansen)

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Austin Cox gets a gift from Santa Claus. (Kyle Hansen)

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Pierre and Alain Kouam look at their items while checking out at Target. (Kyle Hansen)

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Kyanna Miller colors on her placemat at IHOP. (Kyle Hansen)

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An IHOP employee dressed as Santa passes out napkins to kids at the Santa Cop breakfast. (Kyle Hansen)

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Kids color while waiting for their food at IHOP after shopping. (Kyle Hansen)

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Kids enjoy hot chocolate at IHOP after shopping with police. (Kyle Hansen)

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Austin Cox and Mary Hylton eat breakfast with members of the Fraternal Order of Police. (Kyle Hansen)

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Members of the Fraternal Order of Police get their food at the Santa Cop breakfast. (Kyle Hansen)

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Jerry Hill, the Kouams' principal at Ball's Bluff Elementary, said the event was an opportunity for some of his students to pick up items they not only want - but also need.

“Some of these kids have never been shopping like this before,” he said. “These kids went straight to the clothes and shoes, to things they need rather than to the entertainment things. They passed the toys to come over here.”

Pierre and Alain Kouam moved to Leesburg from Africa two years ago. They mostly picked out clothes and used their allowances to help buy suits, shoes and a few small toys. Other kids picked out board games, bikes, winter coats and even iPods.

Many of the kids showed their own charity by using some of the money allotted to them to buy gifts for their siblings. Seven-year-old Karen Alcon had a shopping cart full of toys, but said most of them were for her three sisters.

Ten-year-old Thomas Castleberry had his "wish list" written on a small scrap of paper. He pulled two games off the shelf and carefully placed them in the shopping cart -- one for him, one for his brother -- while Sgt. Joseph Schroeck kept a tally of the cost.

Mary Hylton, who was at Target with her great-grandson, said that in addition to providing for the needs of children, the event also was an opportunity for kids to learn to respect police.

“There are so many children that don't have this advantage,” she said. “The only contact they have with the law is when they do something wrong.”

Hylton has been raising Austin Cox since he was three months old. She also raised his older brother until recently.

“They don't know what it is like to have a mother and father for Christmas,” she said of her grandsons, who are ages 9 and 13. “If I didn't take them in, I don't know where they would be.”

Austin Cox's brother moved out of state to live with his grandmother, Hylton's daughter, three years ago.

“We won't see them for Christmas,” Hylton said. “This kind of thing helps to make up for that.”

Members of the FOP raised money for the event, were on hand to take the kids through the store, help them pick out toys, try on clothes and check out at the registers.

Loudoun County sheriff's Lt. Ed Leonard helped Austin Cox select his gifts, but he also said this was an opportunity to make connections with the kids.

“I miss having the one-on-ones with the youth,” said Leonard, explaining that as a station commander he mostly stays in the office. “It is great just to see the smiles on their faces.

“I have this boy's number now and I will call him up through the year and see how he is doing,” Leonard said. “And his grandmother has my number in case they ever need anything.”

After the shopping was done, kids were able to sit on Santa's lap and tell them what else they wanted before the FOP treated all of the kids and their families to breakfast at the IHOP across the street.

FOP secretary John Ohrnberger, an investigator with the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles, said the day was a big change from the problems most of the cops are used to dealing with as part of their jobs.

“It's an emotional thing for a lot of these officers,” he said. “In dealing with a lot of dysfunctional families over the years, you don't get to see the other side a lot -- times when you can do something good. This is a chance to do something good.”

FOP member Dan Farrel said the event was an opportunity to give back to the community.

“When a cop is at your door it is not usually to bring a gift. It is to bring you bad news,” the retired Fairfax County sheriff's deputy said. “They don't get a lot of chances to bring a smile to someone's face.

“In all the years that I had this job, in 27 years, I never got as good a feeling as I get from doing this.”

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