Shop With A Cop
2022 Results
Location: Vanderwerf's Independent Store, Port Elgin.
On November 4, 2022, our club bill was $529.67, and an additional $200 was donated by Vanderwerf’s Independent giving a total of $729.67 going to the Foodbank from this fun educational event.
Congratulations to our winners Ecole Port Elgin Saugeen Central (EPESCS), with a $140.07 bill. Northport had a $137.17 bill. GC Huston had a 131.94 bill and St Joseph’s had a $120.49 bill. EPESCS wins $100 for their school library and the other schools receive $50 for theirs.
Our friends from the Saugeen Police Service then gave the participants a ride, in a Police Cruiser, and treated them to drinks and doughnuts at Tim Horton’s. Here's a short video of the 2022 event. CLICK HERE
How it works
Each team will consist of one Saugeen Shores police officer and two Grade 6 students representing 4 area elementary schools, G.C. Huston, Northport, Port Elgin Saugeen Central and St. Joseph’s. These teams go on a simultaneous timed 30 minute shopping spree to help stock the Salvation Army Food Bank.
The team that gets closest to $300 worth of items currently needed at the Food Bank, without going over $300, will win a prize for their school, and other participating schools will receive a consolation prize. Southampton Rotary Club pays for the items collected and Vanderwerf’s Independent Grocer donates an extra $200 worth of groceries, in the winning school’s name, to the Food Bank.
A representative from the Food Bank is there to coach the teams on what the Food Bank most needs at the moment, but after that, it’s up to these “dream teams” to work on their mathematical skills under time pressure.
Southampton Rotary wishes good luck to all the teams and a big thank you to the Saugeen Shores Police Service and our local schools for freeing up these brave contestants to be part of this worthwhile event and our friends Eric and Cassandra Vanderwerf, owners of the Port Elgin Independent Store for their generous support. In the end, the fun translates into fewer empty food cupboards in our area.
Each participating school receives $50 for library books and the winner school receives an extra $50, making $100 in total.
History - How did the program start?
The Shop With A Cop was a program originally organised by the “Southport Optimist Club”, but when the club closed in 2017, the Optimists and the Salvation Army approached the Rotary Club of Southampton and asked if the club would take it over. This was a no-brainer for us and we are grateful to the local Optimists for the many years of service they had provided to Saugeen Shores and particularly for founding this fun event and for thinking of us as worthy successors.
The Southampton Rotary Club hosted the event in 2017, 2018, and 2019. and it was then put on hold due to the COVID Pandemic and was restarted in November 2022.
In 2023 the Port Elgin Clun and Saugeen Shores Rotary Clubs formally partnered with the Southampton Club and the values were increased to $300 per school.
The event is now scheduled for the first Friday in November each year.
One of our earlier events.