In May, officers from the Westover Police Department were invited to join local families at Launchpad Trampoline Park for the Hop with a Cop event to celebrate National Police Week. A portion of the sales from the event was donated to the department.
Bringing that spirit of giving full-circle, the department has decided to put that money back into the community by donating it to Pantry Plus More food pantry located across from Launchpad in Westover.
On Thursday afternoon, members of the Westover Police Department and Launchpad General Manager Mike Travis delivered the check for $376.80, raised during May’s event, to Pantry Plus More President Roark Sizemore.
Westover Police Chief Joe Adams said several of his officers were willing to contribute when this opportunity arose.
“When the trampoline park made themselves available and said the money could go to a charity, it seemed like a worthy endeavor,” he said. “And as far as the pantry goes, it feeds children — I mean that’s an awesome charity.”
Travis said the trampoline park was looking for a way to give back to the community and thought it was great the money raised during the event was going to their neighbors.
“We really enjoy giving back,” Travis said. “It’s such a great cause. They do such good things over here and that’s what we’d like to see.”
Patrolmen Cather and Carver both participated in the event and said they had a lot of fun raising the money and jumping around the park with local kids.
“It’s what this job is meant for — giving back to the community,” Cather said. “Of course with social media and everything, kids are scared of the cops, but showing them that we have this side of humility — it’s heartwarming and it’s what makes this job all the more rewarding.”
“It’s the little things that matter. We could have impacted those kids’ lives more than we even knew,” Carver said. “The fact that we could have maybe gave them an inspiration to look up to and maybe they’ll want to become future law enforcement officers. It’s great to be able to show people that we’re here, we’re here for you, and we’re here to give back.”
Sizemore said that without donations from people like the Westover police and Launchpad, the pantry’s efforts would not be possible.
Donations allow the pantry to buy food, clothing, school supplies and personal hygiene products for families throughout Mon county.
“This goes directly to families,” Sizemore said. “We have a really low overhead here. So basically every dollar that’s getting donated is going straight into five things for families.”
For more information about Pantry Plus More, including how to donate and volunteer and the services they offer, visit pantryplusmore.org.
TWEET @DominionPostWV
