Thunder on the Mountain Car Show Benefits 'Shop With a Cop'

We've all heard that it's better to give than to receive. There is joy in giving. Some children never get to experience this. Thunder on the Mountain supports a program that gives children a chance to feel the joy of giving.

The Shop With a Cop program is an annual event that joins underprivileged children with local law enforcement officers, providing the children with money to shop for Christmas presents. Officers from Tehachapi Police Department, California Highway Patrol, Kern County Sheriffs, Bear Valley Springs, Stallion Springs, and California Department of Corrections take part in the event. The children who participate in the program are chosen by the school district. Each child is given a gift card to buy gifts for themselves and their families.

In 2015, Thunder on the Mountain donated $2,000 to purchase the gift cards for 20 children. The children and officers met at Big Papa's Steakhouse, who provided dinner for all before they departed in police cars with lights and sirens on to K-Mart for an exciting Christmas shopping experience. The program provides an opportunity for law enforcement officers to develop positive and trusting relationships with children in our community. The officers who took part in the event saw that the kids didn't want to spend all the money on themselves, they wanted to give to others.

The event creates a perpetual "Circle of Giving". Members of our community give by purchasing tickets and tee-shirts or entering a car in the car show. Thunder on the Mountain gives by donating the money for the kids to shop, the restaurant gives a meeting place and a meal, local officers give by donating their time, and the children experience the joy of giving a gift to a loved one, often for the first time in their lives. They learn to give of themselves and not be selfish. This experience can have a lasting effect on how they feel about themselves, the police and the world around them, fostering compassion and generosity that they will carry forward as they become better citizens and members of our community who will continue the "Circle of Giving".

The Shop with a Cop program is funded completely from donations.

Thunder on the Mountain raises money through car show registration fees and the sale of raffle tickets and tee-shirts, which can be purchased outside of Albertson's until the day of the car show on August 21, when you may purchase raffle tickets and tee-shirts at the booths in Centennial Plaza. You need not be present to win the large raffle prizes. In addition to the Shop with a Cop program, money raised in 2015 was distributed to Thunder on the Mountain Scholarships, Tehachapi SENIOR CENTER, Optimal Hospice, local Salvation Army, Honor Flight, Tehachapi Humane Society, Wounded Hero Fund and Tehachapi Community Theater. If you would like to support these programs, you can do so by purchasing a Thunder on the Mountain tee-shirt or raffle ticket.