The Naperville Police Department recently presented a $400 check to the Chicagoland Chapter of Pets for Vets on Veterans Day.
The gesture was part of an effort by the Naperville Police Department's Communication Section to reach out to the community through a series of “Charity Dress Down Days,” in which staff members can wear approved “dress down” apparel once a month in exchange for a $5 donation to a charity. The charitable group chosen was voted on by all those participating.
During the six months of the promotion, the section raised $400 for the local chapter of Pets for Vets, which matches trained shelter animals from throughout the Chicagoland area and Northwest Indiana with veterans suffering from depression and other disorders. The initiative will continue, with proceeds going to a new deserving charity every six months.
The fundraising idea was developed by Telecommunicator Michael Stys after he attended a leadership training seminar, seeing it as a good way for police to boost community relations.
“Inherently, we give back to our community every day when we come to work, but this allows us to step up and give back without that prompt from the public,” Stys said. “We don’t always have positive contact with the public. This gives us the opportunity for our interaction to be more positive.”
The Communications Section includes Naperville’s Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP), which provides emergency and non-emergency communications for all public-safety units, and City Dispatch, which serves the Departments of Public Works and Public Utilities.
“These employees do an outstanding job and have a huge impact on Naperville every day they come into work,” Police Chief Robert Marshall said. “I think it’s truly inspiring to see them step up to do even more for the community.
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