Local police help students get in gear
Chief Catrina Thompson helps distribute backpacks during the giveaway on Friday, Aug. 10. Officers with the Winston-Salem Police Department distributed more than 600 backpacks in less than an hour.
For the fourth year in a row, the Winston-Salem Police Foundation and the Winston-Salem Police Department came together to make sure students throughout the community have what they need to start the school year.
On Friday, Aug. 10, officers met hundreds of children at four different locations across the city to distribute backpacks and school supplies. Giveaways were held at the Winston Mutual Building (1225 E. Fifth St.), the District One Police Station (7836 North Point Blvd.), the District Two Police Station (1539 Waughtown Street), and the District Three Police Station (2393 Winterhaven Lane).
The number of backpacks distributed was a combined total of 1,600.
Before helping distribute backpacks to more than 600 children at the Winston Mutual Building, Chief Catrina Thompson wished the students good luck on the upcoming school year.
Thompson said, “I’m hoping and believing we’ll have a great and educational school year. You are the future of this community.
“We’re going to do our part to help you be successful but we charge you with being committed to studying hard.”
After helping children from A Child’s Learning Place get their backpacks, Shannon Dearmon said the giveaway goes a long way in cultivating the relationship with the police department and the community.
Dearmon said, “I think this is wonderful because a lot of our kids don’t know police officers, so they only know what they see and hear.”
