Thanks to a wonderful partnership with Columbus Division of Police and Lowe's Home Improvement we are able to help some crime victims feel safer in their homes. It started last year, when CPD Officer Dan Snyder was working with a domestic violence victim. They had no legal means to keep the person she was afraid of from entering her home, so Officer Snyder tried to find items in her apartment to help her barricade the door. He came to us, asking if we could provide door security bars to help in these and similar situations.
We reached out to Lowe's at 2345 Silver Drive, and they were thrilled to help. This year, with the program being so well-received by officers across the city, we purchased 900 bars, and our friends at Lowe's generously donated 100. This order of 1,000 is double what we got last year. Although it's sad that these bars have to be used at all, we know the need was there long before this program, and we're grateful that Officer Snyder had this idea to help people feel safe.
Any opportunity to make such a huge difference like this is important, and we'd like to thank the Starfish donors whose contributions allow us to support programs like this. Thanks also to our neighbors at Garver Asset Protection LLC who helped us offload four pallets of bars. The other pallet of bars Officer Snyder immediately delivered to CPD substations in need of re-stocking.
In July, then-Sergeant (now Lieutenant) Stephen Carr shared with us that his officers responded to a call in which a suspect tried to kick down a victim's door after threatening to kill her. She said the only thing that kept him from getting in were the door bars that officers had given her on a previous visit.
