Stanley PD Offers Badges And Backpacks
When Stanley police officer and SRO Briana Dazell brought the idea of Badges and Backpacks to Chief of Police Kevin Litten, he was all in. The goal was to provide new backpacks and school supplies for students in need. The department talked about some of the potential supporters including Walmart which is traditionally a supporter of events like this and Scheels for backpacks.
As she got underway, Dazell had a goal to help five kids. She put up a nomination form online and was soon surprised at the reaction. She watched the numbers grow from that initial hope of five to twenty-two kids. Within 24 hours, sixteen of those nominations had been submitted.
That sent Dazell looking for other sponsors and through that generous support they raised $3,300, allowing her to purchase the supplies necessary for each of those 22 students.
Each student received a brand new backpack selected just for them from the nomination form. They were then able to shop the tables set up with the necessary school supplies. The tables were full with notebooks, folders, markers, crayons, colored pencils, pencils, highlighters, glue sticks, glue bottles, watercolor paint trays, erasers, scissors, expo markers, pencil bags and pencil boxes, Clorox wipes, Kleenex, mechanical pencils, binders, index cards, loose leaf paper, water bottles and headphones. Each child also received a new pair of tennis shoes to start the year.
Donations were received from Prairie Ford, Jim and Kathy Ellingson, Allen and Diane Gustafson, D&E Oil, Inc., Four Bears Legacy Foundation, G&S Custom Deluxe Detailing, Tammy Van Dyke, Bruce Dazell, Walmart, Scheels and Cash Wise.
Kids got to do their shopping while accompanied by the Stanley High School Blue Jay mascot, officers from the department and some council members. Dazell said it was hard to guess who was enjoying the experience more, but the smile on each child’s face made the project a heart-warming experience for everyone. She is grateful for the support received from all the members of the police department and all of the donors to allow this kind of support for children in the community.