Tip-A-Cop Fundraiser Benefits Special Olympics

By Shannon Hicks

There’s a joke just waiting to be told when someone walks into a donut shop and sees a cop working behind the counter. But the truth is, when two members of Newtown Police Department spent a few hours at Dunkin’ Donuts on May 13, they were all business.

Officers Jeffrey Silver and Jason Flynn were participating in Special Olympics Connecticut’s (SOCT) Tip-A-Cop program last weekend. Officer Silver assisted the staff at the Queen Street coffee shop by taking orders from customers, bagging donuts, and brewing and pouring a lot of coffee.

Meanwhile, Officer Flynn answered questions about Special Olympics and the Torch Run, which returns in less than a month. The police officer was also manning a table that had T-shirts, tank tops, baseball caps, and other SOCT merchandise available as thank-you gifts to people who made donations to the Tip-A-Cop program.

Boxes that would usually hold Munchkins, the popular Dunkin’ Donuts bite-size donut, had also been set out on counters to collect donations from customers. All of the money collected during Tip-A-Cop will benefit Special Olympics Connecticut.

The next step for the police department is also the most public event of the annual SOCT Law Enforcement Torch Run Program. The program is a year-round series of fundraising events to benefit Connecticut’s children and adults with intellectual disabilities, but the most visible event is the Torch Run itself, when the Special Olympics Flame of Hope is carried by law enforcement officials and athletes over 640 miles through 100 cities and towns across the state.

The Torch Run leads up to the Special Olympics Summer Games Opening Ceremony, which will take place this year on Friday, June 9, in New Haven. The Summer Games will be July 10 and 11 at Southern Connecticut State University.

Echoing the efforts of fellow police officers in every state and more than 30 countries, Newtown police officers will once again participate in this year’s Torch Run. The Newtown leg of the Run will be on June 9, with the times to be announced closer to the run. The leg travels from the town line on Route 302 to Exit 10 off I-84.

Enrollment has been opened for the Adopt-A-Mile program, where for a $100 donation, a company or group’s name will be placed on a mile marker sign placed either along the Torch Run route or in front of the business sponsoring the mile.

All of these programs raise support and funds for SOCT and the more than 5,000 athletes it serves.

Additional information can be found online at SOCT.org or by contacting Officer Silver at 426-5841.