A local family benefited from the true spirit of community policing July 16, when they received an impromptu donation from members of the Adams State University Police Department.
"This was amazing – a real blessing," said Amber McDaniel. While she was at SLV Health with a niece who was in labor, her younger children were riding bikes around the Adam State campus – without helmets. This got the attention of ASU Chief of Police Paul Grohowski, who has organized drives to provide kids with bike helmets at his previous post in Florida. By the end of Thursday afternoon, the ASU PD had provided not only seven bicycle helmets and a new pair of shoes for four-year-old Sean, who’d lost track of his, but also stocked the family’s kitchen.
McDaniel, who works at Subway, said the food donation was greatly appreciated by her family of ten that has just moved to a new home in Alamosa. In addition to seven of her own nine children, she’s also raising her niece, whose new baby boy makes nine.
"The Adams State Police Department are amazing people. It was so awesome to see the kids’ faces light up with their new helmets," she said.
While stocking up two carts of supplies for the family, ASU Chief of Police Paul Grohowski attracted the attention – and generosity – of fellow Wal-Mart shoppers. One man donated $100 to the cause, and another spent time helping Grohowski sort and load the groceries.
"I don’t know which made the kids happier, the helmets or the oreos," Grohowski said.
