Everyday Ut Prosim: How police officer John Tarter serves at the Christmas Store

Most days, Cpl. John Tarter patrols campus in a blue Virginia Tech Police Department uniform.

But each December, he briefly swaps the badge for a Santa Claus costume when he volunteers at the Montgomery County Christmas Store.

It’s a beloved local institution that, from Dec. 9-14 this year, welcomes people from more than 3,000 low-income households in the county to pick out clothes, toys, household items, and food at a former department store turned holiday wonderland in Christiansburg. “People shop just like you would shop in a department store, except that no money is exchanged,” said Kim O’Rourke, Virginia Tech’s vice president for policy and governance and secretary to the Board of Visitors, who serves as the Christmas Store’s board president. “They don't pay for anything.”

Powering this miracle on Main Street? An army of volunteer Santa’s helpers like Tarter.

Tarter learned about the Christmas Store on the job at a Virginia Tech basketball game. In the Cassell Coliseum tunnel, he began chatting with three Christmas Store volunteers waiting to push a shopping cart onto the court during halftime. “They were asking people to donate toys, and I'm like, ‘What is this Christmas Store thing?’” Tarter said. A quick online search led him to the store’s website. He signed up to volunteer.

Six years later, he’s the store’s operations coordinator, part of a core group of volunteers who work year round to ready the Christmas Store for its one-week public opening. If someone wants to volunteer in the off-season, Tarter’s the one to schedule them. If the building coordinator needs help building shelves or relocating inventory, Tarter has been known to put in twelve-hour days to work on it.

“Whatever the need, John is there to help,” said O’Rourke. “He is a very strong backbone of the store.”

The prep work crescendoes with the twinkling lights and decked halls of “store week.” Hundreds of volunteers operate departments such as toys and teen gifts. Some shepherd shoppers as they pick out pajamas and winter coats, bikes and Barbies, car seats and soccer balls for kids who might otherwise have little under the tree.

Many volunteers have Virginia Tech connections, proving that the abundant holiday spirit at the nondenominational Christmas Store shares its DNA with Ut Prosim (That I May Serve). Last year, Tarter met a first-year Hokie who took three buses to downtown Christiansburg to volunteer “because somebody had said that the Christmas Store was where he could demonstrate his Ut Prosim.”

Tarter takes annual leave to spend full days at the store during its busy store week. Sometimes wearing the Santa costume or reindeer antlers, he pitches in wherever he’s needed, whether that’s welcoming customers at the check-in desk — “I’m a talker,” he acknowledged — or assisting shoppers during a rush. One year ,a woman fainted, and Tarter managed the situation with the practiced calm of a veteran police officer. 

“He deals with everyone with the utmost respect, meets everybody where they are on their level, and he can communicate with anybody,” said O’Rourke.

Back when Tarter was a beat cop in inner-city Newport News, he witnessed dispiriting poverty and hardship. To volunteer at the Christmas Store, helping people in similar straits, feels like a full-circle moment. “A lot of people have very challenging lives, and the Christmas Store offers them support and help,” he said. “It just shows that the community cares for people.”

Ut Prosim never takes a break. When the Christmas Store closes each evening, Tarter heads back to Virginia Tech for another beloved tradition of service: Newman Library’s Cheesy Nights. He’s a familiar face on campus as a residence life resource officer in the Community Services Unit. But he’ll surprise a few students as he hands out grilled cheese — wearing his Santa Claus outfit.

To learn more about how to volunteer or donate, visit the to the Montgomery County Christmas Store website.