Generous Donation Allows Cleveland Police Officers to Commit Random Acts of Kindness

CLEVELAND, OH — Mayor Frank G. Jackson, Safety Director Michael McGrath and Chief of Police Calvin D. Williams proudly announce that Cleveland Police officers handed out hundreds of gift cards today, just in time for the holiday season. This endeavor was made possible by a generous donation by a man who wishes to remain anonymous.

Last Friday, a generous donor made a significant donation to the Cleveland Police Foundation to pay forward a random act of kindness that he experienced.

Background: While parking his car on the street recently he discovered that he had no coins to feed the meter. A woman who happened by without hesitation voluntarily dug into her bag and put several coins into it to help him out. In appreciation, he gave her some cash. She jumped into his arms, hugged and thanked him for making her holidays brighter. Both were moved by the random act of kindness and the good karma it generated!

This inspired the man to further to keep the goodwill going through the holidays. His idea was to have police officers give $100 gift cards to people on the street during the holidays so that both the recipients and the police officers would experience a similar good feeling and be that much "richer" as a result.

The anonymous donor was confident that police officers will know people who are in need and distribute the cards accordingly. He also hoped that these random acts of kindness would give the police an opportunity to help citizens even more during the holidays and in turn, residents.

The "2016 Cleveland Division of Police / Cleveland Police Foundation Holiday Random Acts of Kindness" project will run the week of December 19th, leading up to Hanukkah and Christmas. The gift cards were purchased and were disseminated to CPD members for distribution to folks in need throughout the city in hopes of making the holidays a little brighter for them.

This endeavor is made possible by the generosity of Cleveland's Secret Santa, the Cleveland Police Foundation with the support of Dave's Markets, Save-A-Lot Food Stores, Target, and TrueNorth Convenience Stores. On behalf of Cleveland's Secret Santa, the members of the Cleveland Division of Police, the Cleveland Police Foundation, and the event's supporters, best wishes to one and all for a very Merry Christmas, and Safe and Joyous Holiday Season.

Photos: Cleveland Police Department