Columbus Police Officer Pete Casuccio, along with CPD and the Fraternal Order of Police, organized a donation drive to support Hurricane Michael relief efforts. Ofc Casuccio, and two other police officers, personally drove the items down to Florida on Monday and safely returned home yesterday. Mission accomplished! Thank you to everyone who donated. One woman was so intent on making a donation that she took a long journey from her home to CPD Headquarters downtown, which required her to take three buses. We met a lot of lovely people and truly appreciate you making the effort to donate.
Ofc Casuccio became involved in this effort after he read a post in an online military group he belongs to. The post was from an Florida officer, reporting that departments in his area had had their entire fleet of marked police vehicles destroyed, along with all their communications equipment. These officers had to drive to Alabama to purchase pre-paid cell phones so they can communicate with their dispatcher. It's a disaster area that's not getting much media attention, and Ofc Casuccio took it upon himself to try to help out a bit.
Starfish Assignment was happy to be asked to assist him, providing volunteers, legwork, and donations, and we look forward to working with Pete on many, many more projects. He is a wonderful person and a fantastic police officer who goes out of his way to try to make a difference.
