From November 5 to 23, the Salt River Public Safety Communications Division (PSCD) collected about 560 cans of food for the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community Food Pantry. This was the first canned food drive effort by PSCD staff.

“The canned food drive was an internal effort for PSCD staff hosted through our internal Cheer Team,” said Salt River PSCD Communications Manager Kimberly Clark. “Last year we did a collection effort for domestic violence victims during October, for Domestic Violence Awareness Month. This year, we decided we wanted to give back to the Community. We all feel SRPMIC is a great place to work, and the Community has gone above and beyond in providing for each of us and our families during the coronavirus pandemic. This effort gave us the opportunity to demonstrate our appreciation and to support families in the Community that supports us and our families.”

As an incentive, a friendly internal contest was started between the PSCD day shift and night shift to see who could collect the most goods. Winners are able to go a week without wearing uniforms, which PSCD says is especially nice for dispatchers. The day shift came out on top, and staff can wear jeans for a few days.

PSCD staff are often on the sidelines supporting other department or Community efforts, like Shop with a Cop, Safety Day and Kickball with a Cop. This year, those events were suspended due to the pandemic. The canned food drive was a tangible way for PSCD to serve the Community.