Dear law enforcement officers, firefighters, dispatchers, and support staff for each,
If you are reading this, then you have heard what thousands of us are up to, ONCE AGAIN!
In December 2014, our founder had the idea to send a few dozen cookies to a single sheriff’s office in the Northern Kentucky area. This idea came following the increasing frustrations from the negative news coverage that seemed to never end. In just 2.5 weeks, we were able to take this single idea for a single department and expand to deliver 30,000 cookies to 220 departments in 24 states on December 22nd (and the week of). This campaign was such a huge hit that we turned it into an annual event (now held in October) as a way to flood departments across the US with kindness, something so easily lost in society these days. We have continued this campaign of kindness each year and in 2019, we surpassed 625,000 cookies served since our start!
Our founder’s roots come on the fire side of this coin. Born into the fire family, she grew up visiting her father at the firehouse surrounded by the extended family that comes with such a profession. Now grown, her brothers have also taken the path of civil service with the City of Cincinnati; one as a firefighter and the other as a police officer. While this started as a “for Cops” idea, adding RED to the mix only seemed to be the obvious progression and a natural fit to officially include our friends in red with campaign #3 (and beyond).
Let’s review a few bullet points for you as we prep for the October 2019 campaign:
- Our deliveries will take place in mid-October each year.
- Every leader must show ID. You may personally know your leader – this is a bonus. Because some of our leaders have opted to expand out more, you may not know the leader who may be related to an officer or firefighter in a neighboring community. We have asked our leaders to let you know their connection to law enforcement and / or firefighting and answer any questions you may have for them. Our leaders are to invite you to keep a copy of their ID for your records.
- Every delivery will have a campaign specific label attached to indicate that it is a part of this project and that you are a part of something so much larger than that delivery of treats. You will also receive a delivery letter which has room for your leader’s name and contact information. This leader name should match the name on the ID presented.
- Our leader list will give first name, last initial (for security and privacy reasons we have opted for initial only).
- We invite you to check out some of our media coverage and to check out our social media platforms:
Being family (and knowing so many others in these professions), you can be assured that we understand some concerns that may come with this type of campaign.
In order to best protect those who protect us, we’ve worked hard to reach out to other family members and dear friends that we know appreciate the current times and the hardships / challenges of your profession. We feel we have connected with trusted friends and trusted friends of those friends. Most of our leaders are family members themselves (wives, parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins).
- Each leader who delivers in our name must show on our Leader List. Only those listed have been approved via a direct email (from an official work email address) by someone in your profession OR have been approved by an already approved leader who personally vouches for this trusted source.
- Each leader should show on our website as an approved leader.
- Each leader should also provide the information noted above (letter and ID with delivery) so you know exactly who is in front of you, bringing this kindness.
In the end, we can appreciate if this is not a campaign you feel comfortable bringing into your “home”. If that is the case when a leader reaches out to include your “family”, please be open with us so we can see if other arrangements can be made to make sure your men and women are included in some way of thanks from those in their communities.
We appreciate each of you and hope that this small gesture from so many brings a smile to your face and lifts your spirits. We hope to make this a beacon of support that is seen around the country.