Gresham Optimists Shop with a Cop on YouTube

The Gresham Optimist Club wants more people to know about the things they do so they have turned to YouTube to spread the word. According to Don Weston, Publicity Chairman, it's easy to do; all it takes is a little computer knowledge and patience.

He has created two videos and posted them on YouTube that document the club's popular "Shop with a Cop" Santa activity. One runs 8 minutes and one runs 2 minutes. We've embedded the 2 minute version for you here.



Don says he took the video with a digital camera in the camera’s video setting and used Microsoft movie maker (a free program on Vista) to produce the film. He saved it on the computer and uploaded it to You Tube.

So how does Shop with a Cop work? According to Project Chairman Joe Anderson the Gresham Optimists have been coordinating Shop with a Cop for eight years. The Optimist Club, the Police Department and the Fire Department each contribute $500.00 to the project. They receive fifteen names from the Salvation Army and on shopping day each child is paired up with an Optimist member, a fireman and a cop at a Fred Meyer Store. Each child, armed with $100.00, proceeds to purchase gifts for himself or his family. Joe says, "The kids are great shoppers and they know what they want." They also receive free books for all children courtesy of the Willamette Writers.

The shopping spree lasted about 1.5 hours and afterward the Optimists hosted lunch for all at Burgerville.

Nice project and great use of technology!
Information for this post provided by Don Weston.