ASSIGNMENT: Socks, underwear, and bras for kids. 

REQUESTING OFFICERS: Columbus Division of Police​ Officers Heidi Graber and Aaron Neal, 13 Precinct, South Side

Starfish Assignment volunteer Angie Denune asked us what she could help us with this holiday season. We asked if she'd be willing to help us get socks, bras, and underwear for kids. This is something Officers Heidi Graber and Aaron Neal asked us for in late October. They, and other officers around the city, frequently see kids going w...

We have finalized the officer requests for our Christmas Day gift bags. These are the presents that Columbus Division of Police​ officers will be handing out to citizens they see on Christmas Day. It's the first year we've done it, and we're thrilled at the response from officers. We've had sign ups from all across the city, all three shifts. Mid-watch also signed up, as did K-9.

We'll be making a total of 250 adult bags, 250 child bags, and 100 homeless bags. Although the gifts are for Chris...

ASSIGNMENT UPDATE: We were asked to provide utilities and clothing assistance for a Hilltop family.

REFERRING OFFICER: Columbus Division of Police​ Officer Ed Chung​, 19 Precinct, Hilltop.

FACILITATOR: Shannon McCroskey Rothwell

You may recall the charming way Ofc Chung recounted his interaction with this family because the child had manners "like an old school grandpa." From our original post: "He said the boy very politely interrupted his conversation with his mother saying, 'I have a boo-boo...

We received more deliveries over the past couple of days for the gift bags that Columbus Division of Police officers will hand out to citizens on Christmas Day. Thank you to Yee C. Hang, Arnon E. Reichers, and Debbie Vaught for your amazing generosity!

If we didn't mention you and you know your items were delivered in this round, please message us. We had a junior volunteer helping us unpack this time, so we might have lost a slip or two. 

We're making 250 adult bags, 250 kids bags, and 1...

Columbus Division of Police Community Liaison Officer Kelly Shay (8 Precinct, Franklinton) was at a school basketball game recently and noticed all the players sharing one water bottle. She asked Starfish Assignment if we knew anyone who would be willing to donate plastic water bottles to the team. We turned to Dr James A Homon, Orthodontist, who not only donated water bottles for every player, but also contributed toothbrushes and toothpaste for our Christmas Day gift bags as well!

Thank you...

Today we picked up a ton of deliveries for the gift bags that Columbus Division of Police​ officers are going to be handing out to citizens on Christmas day. Thank you so much to everyone who sent items today: Karyn Kovach, Carmen Long, Tiffany S Lykins, Kimberly Neisch, Mary L Patton, Stephanie Reffitt, Nancy Rich, The Ross Family, Kimberly Santangelo, Leah Stewart, and Angie Woods. (If we didn't mention you, we're sorry. The slips are small and easy to lose. Please message us!)

We're making...

On Christmas Day, Columbus Division of Police​ officers all across the city will be handing out gift bags to citizens they meet--as a way to brighten the day of everyone involved. We've had many officers sign up to participate in this event, and we need your help to make this happen.

After speaking with a number of officers about what to put in the bags and how to best differentiate them, we've broken the gift bags down into three categories (all unisex): adult, child, and homeless. The offic...

ASSIGNMENT UPDATE: We were asked to provide new brakes for a single father of three. He had been using one hour of vacation time each day in order to get his young children safely off to school and then catch the bus to work. But his vacation time will run out as of Monday, so getting his car back on the road had become critical. Here's the original entry if you missed it. 

REFERRING OFFICER: Daniel Snyder, Columbus Division of Police​, 11 Precinct, South Central Columbus

Amazing! That's the o...

REFERRING OFFICER: Ofc Daniel Snyder, 11 Precinct (South Central Columbus)

ASSIGNMENT: Help a hardworking single father of three get his brakes repaired.

Columbus Division of Police​ Officer Daniel Snyder contacted us late this afternoon, hoping we can doing something for Tom, a hardworking single father of three. In his email to us, Ofc Snyder explains, "Tom makes too much for government assistance but not enough to keep his head above water. The most recent and devastating blow has been that...

We wanted to share some exciting news with you about our Books and Badges program. You may remember this is the initiative that will enable Columbus Division of Police​ officers to read to elementary school classrooms, and then every student in that class will be able to take home a copy of the book that the officer reads.

This week we were approved as a Scholastic​ Literacy Partner, which means we can purchase books from the publisher Scholastic at an extremely discounted rate (some as low a...