'The Hub' with Michael Allen sponsored by Manpower Richmond
Welcome to "The Hub with Michael Allen," the podcast that dives deep into the stories of community leaders and business owners who are making a difference. Join your host, Michael Allen, as he uncovers the untold narratives, challenges, and triumphs of those shaping their communities.
In each episode, Michael sits down with remarkable individuals who have dedicated their lives to improving their neighborhoods, towns, and cities. These community leaders are passionate, driven, and committed to creating positive change. Whether they are activists, educators, philanthropists, or civic officials, they all share a common goal: to build stronger, more vibrant communities.
"The Hub" also showcases the journeys of business owners who have turned their dreams into reality. From small-scale startups to well-established enterprises, these entrepreneurs share their insights, experiences, and lessons learned along the way. Michael delves into the unique challenges they face, the strategies they employ, and the impact their businesses have on the local economy and society at large.
With engaging conversations and thought-provoking discussions, "The Hub with Michael Allen" provides listeners with valuable takeaways, inspiration, and actionable ideas. Each episode offers a glimpse into the minds and hearts of those who are actively shaping the fabric of their communities, providing a roadmap for listeners who want to make a difference in their own lives and surroundings.
Tune in to "The Hub with Michael Allen" and join the conversation as we explore the stories of community leaders and business owners who are leaving an indelible mark on the world around them. Get ready to be inspired, motivated, and empowered to take action. Together, we can create a better tomorrow for everyone.
Sponsored by Manpower Richmond.
'The Hub' with Michael Allen sponsored by Manpower Richmond
Ep. 18 | Bridging Hearts: Officer Tyler Saunders and Matt Smith Discuss FOP's Cops and Kids Initiative with Host Michael Allen
What happens when community spirit meets the dedication of law enforcement officers? Join us as we shine a light on the "Cops and Kids" initiative, a heartwarming program that brings smiles to the faces of children in Richmond. With guests Officer Tyler Saunders and Matt Smith, a former officer now working in fraud security at First Bank, we explore how this transformative program supports children in need during the holiday season. Our conversation kicks off with a personal touch, as Tyler and Matt share stories of their first jobs—the stepping stones that fueled their passion for giving back to the community.
You’ll hear firsthand what inspired our guests to serve in law enforcement, from military service to family influences and more. We open up about the challenges faced by officers and the misconceptions that often overshadow their everyday acts of kindness and commitment. Through personal stories and insights, Tyler and Matt reveal the motivations that led them to the field and how they continue to support their community, even as perceptions shift.
In the final segment, we delve into the logistics and community support that keep the "Cops and Kids" program running. Discover how this initiative, funded by generous donations and events, like a charity golf outing, brings joy to approximately 20 children each year. From holiday shopping sprees with police officers to positive interactions that reshape how children see law enforcement, this episode is a testament to the power of community and the lasting impact of kindness. Don’t miss this uplifting exploration of community connection and the spirit of giving.
Michael Allen from Manpower. We are a national brand, yet locally owned franchise. We are familiar with the challenges businesses face. It's tough recruiting and retaining qualified employees. That's why working with Manpower is a smart, cost-effective solution. Our entire focus is talent acquisition. We'll manage your hiring and training and provide ongoing, customized support. Since 1966, we have been your community-invested partner, uniquely positioned to help eliminate the hassles and save you time and money. Let us help contact Manpower today.
Speaker 1:Hello and welcome to the Hub powered by Manpower of Richmond, portland and Newcastle, and I am your host, michael Allen, and here on the Hub we interview local businesses, community partners and very special guests, and our mission is to share and spotlight some unique and untold stories in the community at different companies, organizations and also people who are making a difference in our community. So today our guests are Officer Tyler Saunders and Matt Smith. Tyler, you're with the Richmond Police Department and Matt, you're a former RPD Yep and now he does fraud security with First Bank Correct. I think we got that right. So, and today we're going to talk about cops and kids and but hey guys, uh, welcome to the hub.
Speaker 1:Thanks for coming this morning, thanks for having us and uh, you know we were looking for a charity, the spotlight uh heading into the holiday season and I'd heard about cops and kids and some of the cool stuff about that. I'm also involved in community and schools, I'm a mentor and uh and kind of helps identify, I believe, some of the kids for the program.
Speaker 3:Yeah, they actually identify all of the kids for us. The reason we do that is who better than you know the people that deal with them every day. They can actually choose the ones that really need our help.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. I've been with a couple of kids for three years now. I really love being part of that program a lot. I really enjoy just kind of seeing how they're doing and just doing different activities with them. So I enjoy that a lot. You're both intimately involved in the program and again, we're just honored to have you guys both here today. Before we start that, though, we kind of have well, we don't kind of have we do have a tradition here on the Hub. It's where I ask you guys about your first job that you ever had, so manpower into employment. So, tyler, I'm going to ask you, what was your first job that you ever had?
Speaker 3:My first job was actually at Joe's Pizza. Okay, when I was in high school I was a dishwasher down there where the Cordial Cork's at.
Speaker 1:Right, I remember that Northeast Street.
Speaker 3:That was my first job, so what was your?
Speaker 1:job there. What did you do? I was a dishwasher Dishwasher. You ever got elevated up to making pizzas or anything like that dishwasher.
Speaker 3:You ever got to elevate it up to making pizzas or anything like that. No, I was only there. I was only there about a year. Um, I started when I was like 15, 16. And then my senior year, I ended up getting into a program, uh, where I was working during school. Uh, so I actually went to work for my grandpa for a year, for my education, for while I was in school, all right, so I was only there about a year, so I didn't have a lot of room to move up to management or anything like that. There wasn't too many manager positions either, though.
Speaker 1:No, but I remember Joe's Pizza. I remember going there for lunch. They had this buffet at lunchtime and stuff. Yeah, it was good pizza, it was good.
Speaker 3:I started right when Phil Quinn and Jason Whitney bought it Okay. They were the ones that Jason was my swim coach with Phil's ex-wife yeah, and then that's how I got the jobs through them Great.
Speaker 2:Matt, how about you? My first real job was at MCL. All right, yeah. So I think I was 15 and got started as a as a busser and did that for a little while.
Speaker 1:I think that was my wife's first job. I think maybe with salads or something like that.
Speaker 2:I think that was a lot of people's first jobs.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, I think a lot of people worked there and needed a lot of hands on deck there going down the line and people back in the back serving food. Yeah, it's kind of sad that a long-term place like that no longer is in town. I think a lot of people enjoyed going there and they had a lot of meetings there too, back in the meeting rooms. So, yeah, well, thanks for sharing that guys. Let's start a little bit. Tyler maybe. Why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself, family upbringing, where?
Speaker 3:you're from? Well, I'm from the Wayne County area. Ok, I've been around here pretty much my whole life. I did leave a few years in 2009 to 2010. I went to Afghanistan, ok, and then when I came back, I moved to Lafayette, indiana, for a couple of years and then I moved to Rock Island, illinois, area. I was part of the Quad Cities. I actually lived in Iowa, but I worked on the arsenal with Wounded Warriors.
Speaker 3:We would, if you don't know much about that, what would happen is, if a soldier got injured overseas, they would go to a warrior transition unit, which would be like Fort Knox or you know one of the major bases, and then, if it's somebody that's going to continue through the program, then they would, um, they would come to a community based where transition unit where we would have them for a week and in process and process them, get them.
Speaker 3:We would try to help them line up a job for when they get back to their home, because what they do when they left us was they would go back to where they were from, they would start getting, you know, a job and they would start going through the process to go get medically discharged and then in 2014, my uh, my job in the military changed and they brought me back to Indiana, so I've been back here since then. Okay, so how many years total did you serve? I actually served 12 years and I actually was. Um, I actually have a medical discharge from the military myself, okay, all right, wow, 12 years, that's a.
Speaker 1:That's a pretty big commitment there it was.
Speaker 3:It was a long time. I definitely I had plans to. I enjoyed it. I wanted to. I wanted to stick it out, but the last few years when I was going through my medical stuff, I became non-deployable, and that's not what I wanted. I wanted to be able to deploy if I could. So I finally decided to go ahead and go the medical route because of everything that was going on. What was the branch?
Speaker 1:I was in the Army National Guard. Army National Guard, great Matt, how about yourself?
Speaker 2:Born and raised in Richmond, was here for until about 2009 with my wife. Then we moved out to Nevada and I got started in law enforcement in Nevada. I spent three years as a state trooper with the Nevada Highway Patrol in the Las Vegas Southern Command area, did that 2015,. We came back, was hired with the police department and spent nine years with the police department, as you know, attaining a lieutenant position or rank as lieutenant, and had an opportunity to go back into the private sector and took it so your total service in law enforcement spanned how many years?
Speaker 1:12.
Speaker 2:12 years, 12 years in law enforcement, very proud of everything that I did and all the people that I worked with, tyler included, and still having the opportunity to be part of the FOP and helping lead the FOP with Tyler and Scott Glover has really been great.
Speaker 1:So what was the draw in the law enforcement for you guys? I mean it seems like there's a lot of guys in the military they go into law enforcement. I mean it's not exclusive, but it seems like that's a good transition for you guys. I mean it seems like there's a lot of guys in the military they go into law enforcement. Not, I mean it's not exclusive, but it seems like that's a good transition for a lot. It's a natural, natural transition for some. Uh, so I don't know if that was just a way to kind of stay in that similar line of work or what drew you into it.
Speaker 3:I would say that you know that's. That's a pretty accurate statement, um, for me, I mean the cliche answer of you know, I've always wanted to be a cop. That's what I wanted from as a kid. Um, you know, I, I've the way I, the way that I like to explain it is, you know, I, I served in the military, I served the country and I, you know, when I was done with that, I thought it was time to serve my community. Um, and you know, as I said, I wanted to be, I've wanted to be a cop for a long time. So, like you said, natural transition into becoming a cop.
Speaker 3:Um, you know, you can't find any. Any military person you talk to um will pretty much tell you that you can't. It's hard to find that brotherhood that you had, you know, overseas, or even just in the military, if you were active duty, things like that. And since I've been here, you know, I've been able to find that brother. I've been able to find that brotherhood again and it's, you know it's not the same, but it's still a brotherhood. That's right there for you, yeah.
Speaker 1:How about you, Matt? What drew you into law enforcement?
Speaker 2:That's always the Miss America question right, I mean you know you're asked that in interviews and you know people outside always ask that For me, I never thought I would be in law enforcement. It was never something that was really on my radar. I have family that's in law enforcement. My brother's a captain with Richmond, so he's been doing it for his entire lifetime, since he was able to. My father was a police officer with Richmond, so it never really was on my radar to do that.
Speaker 2:I always wanted to do other things and about 2008, something just clicked for me that where I wanted to be more of a contributor to the community, whether that was here or somewhere else we made the move and I saw the professionalism that was in Nevada with the highway patrol, did some ride-alongs and decided that's where I wanted to go. And then, knowing that we were going to come back to Richmond, um, at some point, um, and knowing that not only growing up here but the ability to serve the community, um, that that had you know I'd been part of previously was was very important to me. You know there's lots of other places to be a police officer, but there's something about serving your hometown that really, really is a draw.
Speaker 1:All right well, I promise to get the cops and kids in a minute, but I just find it.
Speaker 1:I mean, I'm just really intrigued by it. I mean, I've actually had two different law enforcement former law enforcement officers work for me in my office, and so I've had conversations with them about their jobs. So I'm just kind of intrigued, and one of the things that I especially maybe you, tyler, and you can probably still relate to it, matt, probably still relate to it, matt is just what I really sense from both of you that you know a good, a good big part of why you got into law enforcement is just serving others. A question I have would be, though like what do you find some of the challenges you know taking on that role in the community? You're still in it and you were in it, matt. I mean what? What are some of the challenges that that you're kind of facing each day right now? That's a fair question. It's kind of a loaded question. Yeah, I know that's what that one is. I'm sorry.
Speaker 2:It can all be loaded.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I mean you look at law enforcement as a whole, across the nation, across the world, and there are a lot of times when things happen and we're seen negatively. That's always going to be your biggest hurdle that you've got to try to get over. A lot of people see the uniform as everybody, it's not just an individual, Um, so that's, that's one of the big hurdles that we have to try to. Everybody across the nation has to try to worry. You know work through is getting people to understand that. You know, yes, we do have bad apples in our, you know, in our profession, Um, and it's, it's that way in every profession.
Speaker 1:Absolutely From anywhere, from somebody working in a factory to somebody who's a clergy member, even I mean it spans everything. So, it's not really fair to point to one particular profession because there's good. I mean it's, I think, too much in the spiritual realm, but it's a sinful world, so I mean it's not exclusive to anything. Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 3:And you know I mean everything. Everything is recorded these days, yeah, so it doesn't matter if you know what you're doing, right or wrong, it's going to be recorded. Those are some of the big hurdles there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, how about you, matt?
Speaker 2:Did you experience when you were? Well, I think trying to be the individualistic person you know as a law enforcement officer is very difficult, but you have society in general who wants to see the action. They want to see the things that are could potentially be more difficult to watch for some people. They want the sensationalism of it and they don't see the good things that police officers do as often as maybe what looks better on video, right, because doing a good deed does not look good on video, right, it's boring, it doesn't get the, doesn't get the clicks, doesn't get the viewership.
Speaker 2:You know that kind of stuff, as you know pursuits or you know fights, that kind of stuff, right. So officers that do amazing work every day, day in and day out, every time that they that they go on duty, that's not always seen. So that is the hardest hurdle. One of the hardest hurdles to get society to see is the goodness that happens with law enforcement. So you know, I every, every officer across the nation tries to do right by the people that they serve every day, but that's just not seen. Yeah, absolutely, I mean.
Speaker 1:I've had a lot of great experiences with law enforcement over my 30 plus years at Manpower.
Speaker 1:Just because we deal exclusively with people power, just because we deal exclusively with people and I we have worked at least during my time thousands of different people, yeah, and sometimes we've had individuals come into the office who were troublesome or creating an issue and it could be mental health issues, it could be all kinds of things why their behavior was that way.
Speaker 1:But we've had to make some phone calls and so they've always responded immediately and been very helpful. And I remember once that I for some reason had left our offices right in the downtown area and it was really late at night and for some reason we found out that the building had been totally left open and I was a little leery going in there just to find out, just to lock everything up. And so I I called into the department and, uh, they had a couple of guys there right away just coming in, walking through the building, make sure everything was okay. And I could go through all kinds of different stories over over the years, but you know, it's kind of led me. One thing I wanted to ask is how can we, as citizens, help and support law enforcement officers better. Maybe you don't get you know ways that we can support you all in what you do.
Speaker 3:I'll kind of go back to what Matt was saying. You know, understand that. You know we understand that there are, you know, as I said, bad apples in our profession. But you know, as Matt said, we do, you know the majority of police officers do what they can to do the right thing, day in and day out. And I think the biggest thing is just understanding, um. You know we're human too, um, just because we're in a profession where you know we see you, um, and in some of the you know some of the worst situations that somebody is dealing with, um, we're still human, um, and we do make mistakes. I think that's the biggest thing. One of the biggest things I could see is just understanding that you know we do make mistakes because we are human, right, right.
Speaker 2:And the majority of decisions that are made are made with the information that we have at the time. This is one of the only professions where you don't have time to ponder and research and think about what you can do. You know it's, it's decisions that have to be made. You know it's the cliche split second decisions, but a lot of times that's what it is. You know and it's so. It's the information that we have in front of us. We, we, we don't know what's happened 40 years ago, you know, or or everything that's leading up to it. We officers now deal with what they're handed, you know. So, so, understanding that we have to make those decisions, um, and I still say we because you know, just, that's just what comes out, it's always going to be part of your life, right?
Speaker 2:Um, but they they're. They're making decisions with what they have, right, and it could change if the situation changes itself. You know, they're always dynamic situations. So just understanding that those decisions aren't based on anything except what's in front of them, yeah.
Speaker 1:You know, when I think about your role in the community, I continue to go back to the statement to protect and to serve and uh, I, I think uh many of us fail to remember that you are, you're putting your life on the line every day and uh it, you know, came really real for our community when sierra burton lost her life in the line of duty about two years ago.
Speaker 1:Right, we're about, we're at the two-year mark. You know, just by. You know, standing on roads addressing traffic violators, responding to a distressed vehicle, you know you're out there on the side of the road responding to calls, knocking on a door that you don't know what's on the other side of that door, inserting yourself in the middle of a disturbance, people not being cooperative, you know, and simply just by putting on your uniform, like certain perceptions people have and just they see the uniform as something negative and I obviously don't feel that way, and I think the majority of people don't. But it's just, there's just this niche in the society and it's been exacerbated in media, I think, to a certain point. So I really appreciate what you're doing, what you've done, and just thank you guys so much for serving our communities in that way. Thank you.
Speaker 1:And for serving our country for 12 years.
Speaker 3:Appreciate that. Thank you.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. So let's talk about Cops and Kids now. Let's just lighten it up just a little bit. So let's talk about what the program is. I'm sure not everybody knows, so that's part of what we wanted to do today is bring some light to the program. So tell us about Cops and Kids what it is, so, so tell us about Cops and Kids what it is.
Speaker 3:So, cops and Kids, I mean it's been around for a long time. I can't give you, you know, I have no clue when it actually started, but what it is is we take less fortunate children in our community that maybe not, maybe, you know, maybe their family's going through a hard time, um, maybe that you know something happened right before Christmas, things like that. Uh, and what we do is we bring them to the Richmond police department, um, and then we give, we have this, the child or the student, whoever goes with an officer, actually in their vehicle and the officer will drive them to what we we use, meyer, okay, and we'll drive them with our lights and sirens, a big parade all the way up there. You know, the kids love, all kids love seeing lights and sirens and they, like you know a lot of them. The last few years I've noticed we're starting to get more and more talking on the radio to our dispatchers. They just they love being able to do that.
Speaker 3:And then, once we get to Meyer which Meyer has been really great with us the last couple of years Um, meyer actually has, you know, they have, they have Santa, they've got reindeer. They and then they provide us. The last couple of years we've done a lunch where they'll provide the children, the children lunch. Um, after lunch we will will the officer that they rode to Meijer with. We'll actually take them around Meijer and take them shopping. It's not just for toys, it's not just for clothes, it's whatever they need. We do usually have the parent there with them, that way that they can get the things they absolutely need, right just a little guidance.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and then you know, obviously we like to get them the toys too, though you know it's always good for them to get some toys around that time and have some fun. So the kids seem to really enjoy it, the ones that we've dealt with the last few years. But yeah, that's pretty much it. What's the age group?
Speaker 1:that this falls into typically. Who does it?
Speaker 2:Typically up through fifth grade.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I think we do. I think the oldest that we've had in the last few years. I want to say we maybe had like a 16-year-old and it was more of a. That was more of a family. A family had a how do I want to say it? There was an incident and a family needed some assistance right before Christmas. So we added them to our list and I think they had like a 16-year-old, but it's usually up to junior high, about sixth or seventh grade, all the way down to kindergarten about sixth or seventh grade, all the way down to kindergarten.
Speaker 1:We mentioned it at the beginning of our discussion that community and schools identifies the students for you, the kids for you, so I don't know when that process starts that process actually has already started.
Speaker 3:Okay, I reach out to. A few years ago I was actually reaching out to each individual communities and schools, liaison at all the schools in the county. Okay, but in the last couple of years I started reaching out through the communities and schools. I guess office, yes, and spoke to the last year. I spoke to Katie Steven and then this year she gave me another name to reach out to and so I've already Susan Miller or somebody else.
Speaker 1:I honestly don't remember the name.
Speaker 3:But so I've already sent an email to them explaining what we need, what we're looking for, and then they'll reach out to all the communities and schools, liaisons at the schools. That way they can decide. You know, they're the ones, like I said, they're the ones that deal with the students every day. They're the ones that see the things that we don't see. So that's why we go through them for that.
Speaker 1:So what's the tally? How many kids are we talking about annually?
Speaker 3:It depends. Like I said last year, the last couple years we've had some incidents right before Christmas where we've added a couple students or a family, but the majority of the time what I like to see is that, because I like to see multiple students. That way we can spread the wealth, but it's usually about two kids per school in the entire County.
Speaker 3:Okay, so it's about it's usually it's, it's about 20 kids, um, and then you know we that that leaves us a little bit of room to play, uh, to add somebody if we have to at the last minute. What's the budget? What's their shopping budget? Uh, currently, the last few years, I think we've done, I think it's two, 50. Wow, Um, you know, and you know we, we uh, matt and Scott and I actually talked um, as he said, scott Glover, he's our vice president. Uh, we actually talked recently where you know we would like to be able to provide them a little bit more.
Speaker 3:Um, just because you know we, we understand that their family, there's families that are going through hard times and if they, you know if we can, whatever we can do to help, but it's usually about 250 dollars per per child. And then you know you get your officers that just enjoy this so much so they're going to spend their own personal money to get that extra stuff.
Speaker 1:I'm sure that's sweet yeah, I mean $250 sounds like a nice number, but I'm sure once you get it in the cart it doesn't look like much.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it goes fast sometimes, oh, absolutely, especially when all they want is toys.
Speaker 1:One of those big, huge Lego sets can eat it up pretty fast yeah. How can the public help and support the program? I don't know if you get much public support I know you do. You shared with me earlier before today that you have a golf outing and do all those proceeds go to cops and kids? Yes, from that outing every um.
Speaker 3:So starting in january, I try to send it out. In january um, I sent out a letter explaining what it is, what the tournament's for Um, and and we raise funds through the, through the golf tournament, and you know that money is set aside for the shop of the cop or the cops and kids event. Um, you know we've got we get big sponsors. You know BNF, plasticastics, vfw, places like that they're giving us. You know they've become our event sponsors over the last couple years that you know they donate those big monies to us to be able to do that. But it's not just that. We take donations year-round. You know anything that somebody feels like they would love to donate, so they donate monetarily, even toys or clothing, food, things like that. I don't see why we wouldn't take that Okay.
Speaker 1:But quite candidly, I guess the money, just cash, helps you, gives you a lot more flexibility to identify exactly what the kids need.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's the big thing is. You know, like I said, we take them and we take them shopping. That's what we do with them. So you know, the monetary donations are how we run this program.
Speaker 1:So I'm doing the math in my head a little bit, but that's probably a budget of a little over 20,000. Oh, amen, yeah.
Speaker 3:Talking about, talking about for the event itself.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, for the your four kids would be a thousand. So if you've got 20, be what? Five thousand? It's about five thousand.
Speaker 3:It's between five plus. Yeah, it's between five and usually five and six thousand is what we spend.
Speaker 1:How much is your out, your outing, normally bring in?
Speaker 3:uh, you know you don't have no well, I mean, it just depends on on the whole sponsors that we get each year right. Um, you know, we normally have a couple like bnF plastics. They've donated every year. Um, for I've been in charge of the golf tournament for I think three years now.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:And and. But even before I took over, I'm pretty sure that they they've donated as an event sponsor for that many years.
Speaker 1:Um well, Justin Scheibman. He used to be an officer on the floor, so I'm sure that's close to his his heart.
Speaker 3:He's one of the.
Speaker 1:He's one of our main donors yeah, I'm sure they do a lot in the community. Anything else to?
Speaker 2:add yeah, Um, we, we average probably 3000, um profit roughly from the, the golf tournament, um, you know, and then and then the various donations throughout the year. But, um, the more that our, our community supports this um, you know, with the monetary donations, certainly means that we could offer, you know, more assistance to more families, um, throughout the holiday and and really make this a huge program for the community. And that's what we, like, I would say, out of everything that I've done, and I think Tyler could probably join on this. Is these kids coming in.
Speaker 2:They're a little shy at the beginning, right, they're kind of like, oh, I don't know, because we, we pair them up, you know, call them to the front at the city building with, you know, and they meet the officer and we kind of talk to them and they're not real, you know they're, they're, they're just shy, right, they're, they're kids. But once we get them to the car, we start, you know, taking them to that they can play with the lights, all that kind of stuff. They start getting more comfortable in there and seeing the joy on these kids' faces and maybe their initial shyness, that just goes away whenever we get there and they, you know, they see that, you know, we've got Santa, they've got food, you know, and then and then they get the opportunity to shop and pick the things that they want. And just seeing the joy in their faces, that is the absolute best thing that I've done in my 12-year career.
Speaker 1:I would think also something positive that comes out of it is you don't know what's been what these kids have been told about law enforcement or seen about law enforcement or whatever, but when they they get this kind of interaction with you guys, I'm sure it's just a way of saying hey these.
Speaker 1:it puts you in a a light different than what, what there could be some preconceived perceptions of what police officers like. So you know it's a real positive, nurturing type of experience and I think that probably helpfully pays some dividends too. That's not your goal, but I think that's probably a byproduct.
Speaker 3:I would say, possibly, you know, it could be that maybe they had a bad experience with this. Like I said, we do, you know it could be that they, you know, maybe they had a bad experience with us. Like I said, we do, you know, up to junior high age maybe they've had a bad experience with us. But we do our best to bring that joy to them and I think, like Matt said, the longer they're with us throughout the day, they, you know, they start opening up and they start understanding. As I said earlier, we're human too. You know we're here to help them and and and, and we try to tell them, you know, if you need something from us, you can always come to us. So that's, you know. That's one of the big things.
Speaker 3:I, you know, I think you're right, it might, but you know the like kind of, of, like you said earlier talking about the society's views on us. Right now it's still out there, but you know if we can have these conversations with them during these events. And I think you know another big event that happens throughout the year is the National Night Out, where we, you know, I know that Detective Pat Tudor and, I think, officer Tyler Hobbs ran that one this year. Those are the big events where they can see that you know we are just like them, we're just humans, and you know we'll hang out with them, we'll talk to them, you know we'll play sports with them.
Speaker 1:I think another interaction has maybe changed. I mean, my kids are like late 20s and early 30s but they both went to safety town and I remember one of their big interactions was with law enforcement. It may not be the same now. I hope it is. I don't know.
Speaker 3:I think it's called Safety Village now Safety Village, and I do know that there are multiple events throughout the year where, like I know that our SWAT team brings the SWAT bus, they get a jump up in the SWAT bus, you know, there's always it's the police and communities together. It's the PAC division which is ran by, or it's not. It's a detective tutor and officer Hobbs are big, big into that. That's what they do is they do a lot of events with the children. So they're doing more now than we've done in the last few years. I think they've probably had I mean, I know our department's posting it all the time where they're out at schools and visiting with them. So you're right, it's becoming. The safety village is still there, but it's not just that now. I mean we have the policing communities together, so they're, you know, detective tutor and officer hobbs are definitely out there interacting with them a lot more than than we used to be. Yeah, because these spaces.
Speaker 1:These are the kid. The kids in this program are at risk and they may have seen mom or dad handcuffed in their home and thinking, put in a police car, I mean it very well could have happened. So this uh helps, gives an opportunity to see uh, you guys and and gals in a different light.
Speaker 3:So yeah, I've, definitely in the program itself. I've, I've, I know of families in that situation. Hopefully they're young enough that they don't remember those things but, like you said, hopefully they're seeing us in a different light and understanding that that's not just what we're about.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. We talked before we started about how people can contribute. So if folks would make, it'd be better. If they make a check would be best right, check or cash Okay. And if they do write a check, it would be to the somewhere near the John Henniger FOP Lodge 63.
Speaker 3:Yes.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And we'll put that up on the screen when this goes out. And if they want to mail something in, they could go to the lodge at PO Box 423, richmond, 47375. Yes, that's correct. But you can drop it by the police department or if you want to bring it by manpower, we'll bring it over to you guys. So if it's easier to, we have a kind of drive-through at manpower. So if someone wants to make a contribution and drop us a drive-through, we'll bring it to you, we'll help out and bring it over to you guys as well so anyway, really appreciate the program, what you guys are doing, any other things you want to share about the program or put a plug in while I got you here.
Speaker 3:I don't think so it does happen. You know. I don't think we talked about it, but it happens every December. Okay, it's at the beginning of December. That way, you know, they have something. You know, I know it's not right around Christmas, but it's kind of how we've done it in the last few years and it just seems to be easier to do it at the beginning of December. And that way, you know, I'm sure these families are doing things around around Christmas time.
Speaker 1:So Well, shout out to all the companies that help support this through the golf outing and and thank you, myers, for your contribution to this program Looks like they've really stepped up, continue to do more and more with it, so that's great that they're supporting the community in this way.
Speaker 3:Myers has been a great um. You know I will say we did, we did uh, my understanding is, for a while we started this program I think I've just found out it was like 20, roughly 24 years ago uh, for our lodge Um, uh for our lodge Um, and I believe for a while they were going to Meyer and then they left Meyer for a little while. So we were going to Walmart Um, and then we just recently, three years ago, started going back to Meyer Um, and you know both places have always been there for us and and provided, you know, provided those meals, and you know they they enjoy it, the. You know, we talk about the joy on the, on the faces of the children, the joy on the faces of the children, the joy on the faces of the workers that are there that day. They're just as happy to see the kids in there and that's a big thing is seeing that they're there for them too. Well, vampire's got a check for you guys today, so appreciate what you're doing. Thank you very much.
Speaker 1:Appreciate that, after I hear what you're spending on the kids, we may have to bump up a little bit more. Appreciate that. Appreciate that, after I hear what you're spending on the kids, we may have to bump up a little bit more. Appreciate that, thank you. But uh, appreciate, uh, tyler matt, what you guys are doing with the program and and it means a lot to our community and we just need to people need to know more about these things going on, and so I'm glad you guys came on, agreed to do this today and so we could spotlight that.
Speaker 3:so yeah, so I mean, since we're talking about things that we're doing with events like this, uh, you know we are, we are we're you know that we're a fraternal order of the police, but we actually do sponsor, uh, local teams, um, and that's something that we're we haven't done in a few years, um, and and I I honestly couldn't tell you why we haven't Um, I haven't had anybody reach out to me. Uh, this is the first year that we we just actually um approved a, a donation for a sports team, uh, last month. Um, so you know, that's something else that we're looking at doing more as sponsoring, uh you know, youth sports teams throughout the entire year. Um, you know, we can't promise that we can do every team or every sport, but we are wanting to start doing that as well.
Speaker 1:Thanks for sharing that Well, thanks, guys Appreciate it. Thank you very much.
Speaker 3:Thank you for talking to you.
Speaker 1:So whatever platform you're watching or listening to today, please spread the word, like and share, and subscribe to the Hub. We'd love to have you following us on a regular basis. So great Thanks guys. Thanks, mike, appreciate it. Michael Allen from Manpower. We are a national brand, yet locally owned franchise. We are familiar with the challenges businesses face. It's tough recruiting and retaining qualified employees. That's why working with Manpower is a smart, cost-effective solution. Our entire focus is talent acquisition. We'll manage your hiring and training and provide ongoing, customized support. Since 1966, we have been your community-invested partner, uniquely positioned to help eliminate the hassles and save you time and money. Let us help. Contact Manpower today.