Thursday, May 13, 2010

police: saying thank you

image taken from here

This week I've been thinking about ways that myself and others could show more appreciation for law enforcement and all they do. Some of my ideas included the following:

-have kids make cards and deliver them to local agencies
-make giant donut cake and take it in on Saturday*
-gift cards to various places (Jamba Juice, Starbucks, McDonalds, etc.)**
-movie gift certificates

After thinking about it a little more, I realized that even bigger and better than making a card or giving a gift certificate, would be saying "Thank You". If each person could go out of their way to say thank you to one cop this week, that would be the best way to support law enforcement officers. There have been a few times where someone has very sweetly gone out of their way to say thank you to HF and it touched his heart deeply. He was reminded that not everyone and everything is bad out there. Just those two little words have a far reaching effect. It can improve the officer's bad day, it can bring a lot of happiness to their family who sometimes feel like they are the only ones that appreciate him/her. It can knit the community and the department together in more unity. Thankfulness has that effect. It causes people to feel more love and respect for their fellow man.

I've made it a goal to say thank you with my kids this week whenever we see an officer. They won't know that we are an LEO family, but they can't hear it enough from anyone. I think we'll make a few cards too. As far as I've been able to tell, our community does little in doing something for police week. There are police wife groups, but none that organize any sort of fundraising or community outreach programs. I am working on organizing something where people can drop off cards and other acceptable gifts of appreciation at certain drop off points so that they can then be delivered to departments and also to families of fallen officers or injured officers. How are you going to say thank you this week?

In blogland:  Mandy at Mommy Musings is posting a police poem each day this week during police week.
                               TGR (Texas Ghostrider) also has a lot of memorial related posts this week. Check them out.

*Just for your information, if you take treats to a police department, unless they know you, they will graciously accept and most likely toss it in the garbage as soon as you leave just for safety reasons. It's nothing personal.

**Giving a gift card to an officer is a nice gesture, but handing them cash is questionable. That could look like a bribe or something, you know? (bribes are a common practice in other places but not here) If you want to donate cash, see if your local PD has a fund, or look online to see how you can donate to the national memorial fund. See here for that.

10 comments:

Natalie said...

Whoa, I didn't even know it was National Police Week. Thanks for the head's up! :)

Paula said...

Fantastic ideas...

Anonymous said...

I didn't know either! Teacher appreciation week was last week, but we put it off at our school until this week because half the staff was out at trainings last week. Maybe I will have my kids write letters to the police and mail them to them...

Jillian said...

I had to laugh when you said that the cops would throw away any treats unless they know you. One time some sweet little old lady gave my husband some PACKAGED, UNOPENED cookies and he tossed them to be safe. Cops! Lol

Lazy Housewife said...

I'll definitely do something next year. I would have liked to this year, but thought it may seem a little pretentious of me given that my hubby has only been a cop for 2 weeks. :-) I think I will send a card to the local sheriff's office and police departments, though. Great ideas!

The Officer said...

This was a great post. As an Officer I can attest to the great feeling I get from a heart felt Thank You. It could be from a kid or an adult it means the same. I can count on one hand how mandy Thank Yous I have gotten from perfect strangers.

Anonymous said...

Great Idea!

Alicia said...

I just found your blog via handcuffedheart and I'm so glad I did! My husband has been a cop (Deputy) for three years and we love it! It is nice to connect with other women who understand what it is like to be married to someone who puts his life on the line everyday. Love those guys! They definitely deserve MORE appreciation than they get. It is such a thankless job!

I keep a blog at:
http://storyladyblog.com

Anonymous said...

Thanks for those ideas.

Even if the food gets thrown out, the police are still worth the time and effort. The smiles alone are priceless.

dawn said...

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http://www.razoo.com/story/Dawn-McQueeney-Cops-Walk-2011