Cops Link with Kids

In partnership with East Side Pride, members of the Chatham-Kent Police Service and First Nations officers from Walpole Island and Moraviantown take part annually in our Cops Link with Kids program.

The program was first hosted in 2007 and was funded through a one-time $15,000.00 grant from the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services.  Since then, the program has been funded primarily through contributions from the Chatham-Kent Police Services Board, the Chatham-Kent Police Association and other community contributions and donations.

The program involves partnering police officers with kids between the ages of 10 and 15 years in the game of golf in order to help develop friendships that the kids would not normally get the chance to. Each season involves days in which the kids take part in driving range practice, mini-putt, nine-hole rounds of golf, and eventually an end-of-year golf tournament.

To enable the program to have lasting effects down the road, each kid is provided with all the essentials in order to receive the greatest experience possible.  Each receives a brand new set of golf clubs, golf bag, glove, balls, tees, golf shirt, greens fees to local courses and other golf related souvenirs.
 
The program has been a complete hit and the kids enjoyed the opportunity to play golf and "hang out" with the police officers that serve their communities. Since its inception, almost 50 kids in Chatham-Kent have benefited from this program. We hope they have learned new values and skills to make them better ambassadors for the police service for many years.

For more information regarding the Cops Link With Kids program, please contact Marjorie Crew of East Side Pride at 519-351-1269 or Constable Jason Chickowski at 519-352-1234.