Beaver County Sheriff's Office coloring contest, featuring Santa and police dogs, spreads holiday cheer
By: KDKA-TV's Alexandra Todd and Ashley Funyak
BEAVER, Pa. (KDKA) — A holiday tradition in a Pittsburgh-area sheriff's office is quickly becoming the talk of the town.
Sergeant Jenn Hamrick of the Beaver County Sheriff's Office says she started the annual coloring contest in 2017 in order to create a positive relationship with the local kids in the community. Last year, the customized coloring page featured Carl, the department's therapy dog.
"I make sure that when the kids come in for their prizes, that me or a deputy in uniform is here to meet them and interact with the winners and their families. Last year, Carl was a big hit for the kids as they recognized him on the coloring page and relate to him more so than us," says Hamrick. "Kids love the dogs! We now have three and I tried to incorporate them into this year's page. The image is still simple as I only have Word and Paint, but the kids seem to love the images anyway. This year I featured Nitro, Lucca and Carl with Santa."
Hamrick says she started the contest using her own money along with other deputies who contributed. Now Hamirck says she's built relationships with local business owners, receiving gift cards, coupons and other small gifts for prizes. The contest has four age groups. Hamrick says while there is only one prize per age group, all of the children will be recognized.
"The artwork is judged by the deputies and voted on until the day before the announcement. I will make personal calls to the families to pick up their prizes and in some cases, we have delivered them to the kids at their homes," says Hamrick. "We prefer for the families to come in so they can see our operations area, meet deputies and of course interact with Carl or one of the K-9s."
Hamrick says what started as just a small project has quickly turned into something that is highly anticipated by the kids and donors alike. Each year, the contest gets bigger and better, and Hamrick is excited to see how many submissions they receive this year. The sheriff's office enjoys hanging the pages in their hallway and showing them off on their Facebook page.
"I never thought it would be that important to anybody," says Hamrick. "It was something that gave myself some pride, maybe I created a relationship with a child that I wouldn't have had otherwise, or maybe changed their mind about somebody in uniform."
The coloring page can be picked up at the sheriff's office or at the Brady's Run Ice Arena. Pages should be returned by Dec. 20 to be considered for prizes.
