“The house was in darkness. There was no furniture.”
It sounds like the start of a Charles Dickens novel but this was the desperate sight that greeted EPS Constable Amanda Thompson when she responded to a welfare check.
What Thompson found in that dark house was a single mother of four who had just escaped an abusive situation.
The woman admitted she was struggling. She was estranged from her family and living with neighbors.
Thompson, who was once a single mother herself, could empathize.
“I don’t know what it was about this family. Mom just kind of spoke to me a little bit. She’s tried everything. She has a support worker, Family Services lined up, and it seemed like she’s trying everything and not just getting ahead.”
This was not a call Thompson could just walk away from.
She decided to bring “a little Christmas spirit” into the woman’s life. She sought out donations from her fellow officers and an online mom’s group.
“The community has really stepped up,” she says. “We received toys, clothes, gift cards, and $450 in cash.”
For her part, Thompson is also buying the family a Christmas dinner with all the trimmings. In the meantime, she has put the woman in touch with additional resources through the Edmonton Police Service HELP team.
Thompson is not alone in giving back to the community.
Constable Matthew Bruno has made it a “priority to try to dedicate a portion of my time to help others.”
Last year, Bruno and fellow officers donated $200 worth of toys to the Stollery Children’s Hospital. This year, he set out to raise $10,000 to buy toys for children at the Stollery, Kids’ Cottage, and other organizations.
He managed to meet his fundraising goal thanks to a year’s worth of bottle drives, which he did on his own time, and generous donations from local businesses, the Edmonton Police Association, and the Edmonton Police Foundation.
“I wish they could see the impact they have because when you physically go to the Stollery and you give a kid a toy, you must experience it to understand it. The kids are very grateful for the visit.”
Bruno believes that as a police officer he has an obligation to be a leader, and to motivate and give people hope, particularly children.
“I think they say it takes a village to raise kids, right? And even though they may not have that village, we, as police, can always step up and help be that village.”