By Taylor Boyd
The Henry County Sheriff’s Office is partnering with the National Wild Turkey Federation to hold a Family Fun Day on Saturday to raise money for the annual Shop with a Cop program.
The event will be held from 3-7 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 12, at the Smith River Sports Complex.
Advance tickets are $10, while tickets purchased at the gate are $20.
Sheriff Wayne Davis said all proceeds will go toward Shop with a Cop, which provides local children with an opportunity to go Christmas shopping with law enforcement officers.
“It’s unfortunate, but we had far more kids sign up than we had funds available, so we actually had to decline some opportunities. That was absolutely heartbreaking,” he said.
Davis said the program has grown substantially each year, and estimated 170 children participated last year.
To prevent children from being turned away in the future, Davis said the sheriff’s office is exploring additional ways to raise money for the program.
“Our goal is to never have to turn a child away,” he said.
Davis said families can become involved with Shop with a Cop through the local school divisions.
“There’s an application process that will come out later this year, and then we rely heavily on our partners with the school systems in both Martinsville and Henry County for this,” he said.
Saturday’s event will include live music by Matt Boswell, a regional country music cover artist, as well as inflatable play areas for children and food trucks.
Vendors will include Wanda’s Barbeque, Palumbo’s Donuts, Factory Roast Coffee, MalloyDogz and Bahama Sno-Shack.
Davis said the National Wild Turkey Federation also will have an inflatable BB-gun shooting range.
“They will have staff on hand to help children with these air-powered rifles to teach them the fundamentals of gun safety as well as marksmanship skills in a safe and contained environment,” he said.
