REFERRING OFFICERS: Kyle Cull and Aaron McDonald (Columbus Division of Police, 12 Precinct)
ASSIGNMENT: Provide a bicycle for a little girl's birthday and help her family with household goods, toiletries, Kroger gift cards, and cleaning supplies.
Facilitators: Suzanne Hoffman Maginn and Nicole Banks
Last week, Ofc McDonald asked us to help him and his partner, Ofc Cull, to give a little boy in their patrol area a bicycle for his 9th birthday. They had befriended the boy, saying he was a very nice child who didn't have much and they wanted to make his day special. Because his birthday was the next day, we paid for the bike out of our general fund instead of posting it on here.
The officers met up with the family of six the next day, giving the boy his bike, and providing pizza to his mom and four siblings (three brothers and one sister). When Ofc McDonald called to relay the story of how excited the family was, he said that it seemed the pizza might have been the only food they'd had that day. That, along with some other information he shared with us, made us realize that Starfish could do more for this family.
The officers have met with the family many times, and they're great kids with a great mom who are trying to do the best they can. Ofc Medley, the 11 Pct Community Liaison Officer who has worked with us often, stopped by to meet the mom today and she spoke very highly of Ofcs Cull and McDonald and the influence they're having on her children. When Ofc Medley asked what Starfish could do to help her, she asked for simple things like toiletries, and gave him the same answer that she gave Ofcs Cull and McDonald: "Anything they would be able to bless us with."
Ofc Medley said when he arrived she was sweeping her house with a small wooden broom and that she would like any kind of cleaning supplies. He said her house is very simple and she doesn't have a whole lot, but it's clean and well tended and she'd like to be able to do more to keep it that way.
We have a need for boys clothing for ages 16, 14, 12, and 8, and girls clothing size 10. Please message us for details if you think you might be able to help with any of those.
Finally, we mentioned there is one sister in a family of four brothers. Their sister's birthday is this coming Sunday, and the officers have asked if we could give her a bicycle for her 11th birthday. Interestingly, out of all the bikes Starfish has been asked to give, this will be the first one for a girl! We will buy her a very shiny and pretty one if we get enough money donated to be able to do this.
Starfish Assignment is a 501(c)(3), so your donations are tax deductible. You can donate via the following:
Venmo: @StarfishAssignment Paypal: PayPal.Me/StarfishAssignment
As always, thank you for your trust and confidence in us! 💙❤️
