LEXINGTON, Ky. — A Lexington Golf Club brought the Force to the golf course this weekend, helping local kids build relationships with police officers. 

“Just an opportunity for our kids to be able to give back. During Police Appreciation Week, they've written letters to their officers that they got to golf with today, and then they got to play a bunch of really fun games that we kind of made all Star Wars themed,” Shad Lacefield, the administrator for Do Something Extraordinary (DSE) Golf Club said. 

DSE Golf Club gives students an opportunity to learn how to play golf. Over thirty police officers from surrounding counties were able to participate in their golf outing Saturday.

“With that in mind, those students might have some experiences with police officers that might not always be positive. And so we're hoping that this gives the officers an opportunity to show a different side of what a police officer is like; they're just, you know, wonderful members of our community. They like the same things that they like, and it allows kids to be able to be like, 'Oh OK, this is a less intimidating environment for me to be able to meet and talk and laugh and play with a police officer,'” Lacefield said.

Lacefield said with multiple sponsors and donations, the kids were able to participate at no cost. 

During the Force On The Course event, there were silent auctions and different activities for the families to participate in. The money raised for those auctions went to support the Shop With A Cop event that happens with the Lexington Police Department during Christmas.

“It was just a great day. It's a beautiful day and it was nice for us to get out there and spend some time with these kids one on one and get to know them a little bit and then hopefully at Christmas time we'll be able to, to see some of them again when we do Shop with a Cop,” Kristyn Kingshirn, a Detective at the Lexington Police Department said.

As a detective with the Lexington Police Department, Kingshirn said a lot of these kids participate in their Shop With A Cop event at the end of the year. 

Taking part in Force On The Course was just one way to build on that relationship.

“Maybe if they can see a familiar face that is in a position to offer some help and maybe some comfort to your family and you know hopefully that knowing us a little bit and seeing us and recognizing that we're just people like them, if, unfortunately it does come to those circumstances that we run into them again hopefully that's able to, to ease them a little bit,” Klingshirn said. 

Saturday's event raised over $4,000 for Shop With A Cop.