Coffee for Cops shows Burien police officers they’re valued
Jan 11, 2017, 7:20 AM | Updated: 7:40 am
Locals fund a gift card at Starbucks so Burien police get a free cup when they visit. (Photo by Tom Hilton, CC Images)
(Photo by Tom Hilton, CC Images)
The Seattle Open Door Church in Burien regularly receives a donation from a man who lives in Guam. And Pastor Rich Dover says this holiday season the $300 donation came with vague instructions: use the money to do something good for the community. Whatever you want to do, as long as the community benefits.
“We started thinking about the fact that there are police officers that don’t always get the support of the local community,” Pastor Rich said. “We thought we would show them our support as a church. So we came up with the idea of providing coffee for the police. Of course, there’s the ethical issue, they can’t take coffee from individuals. So we decided to purchase a gift card for $300 at one of our local Starbucks that most of the police officers go to in Burien.”
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So when a Burien police officer goes into the Starbucks at 148th and Ambaum, the barista gets to surprise them with a free cup of coffee.
Fueling Burien police
Pastor Rich recently added another $100 to the gift card, the guy from Guam added another $200 and members of the community have been going in to add to it as well.
“When I went to put in the $100 I saw two officers parked across the street from the Starbucks,” Pastor Rich said. “I drove up and said, ‘Hey, I’m the pastor, want you to know we put more on the gift card.'”
“One of the officers looked at me and said, ‘You’re a hero.’ And I…” Pastor Rich said as his voice broke. “I could cry about it because we’re not heroes. They’re the heroes! We’re not the heroes, they’re the heroes. But it just showed their appreciation. Today I found out that some of the officers are saying, ‘We can afford a cup of coffee.’ So they’re taking the cup of coffee that’s given to them and they’re taking it to people in the community that they see.”
Which fits in perfectly with the original intent to better the community.
“I just talked to an officer today and we’re looking at a project to have people donate money for gift cards and give that to the department to give out to the community,” Pastor Rich said. “Maybe they drive by and they see someone who is in need and throw a McDonald’s gift card to them or something. That will be a way for the police to give back and the citizens will get to participate in that also.”
He knows that a cup of coffee is a small thing for Burien police, but he thinks it makes an impact.
“Maybe all you can give is $5, it’s only one cup of coffee,” he said. “An officer goes to take care of a situation, they’re the bad guys, that citizen is mad at that officer, they’re trying to do the best they can. They’re having a bad day, he’s discouraged. He walks in to get a cup of coffee that’s paid for him, maybe that lets him know you are doing something for the community that’s recognized. Maybe that one cup of coffee just gives that officer a little hope that what he’s doing is worthwhile.”
To donate to the Starbucks gift card for Burien police, simply pop into 148th and Ambaum location, or click here to donate online.
