(KNSI) – The St. Cloud Community Outpost got a $71,200 donation thanks to a local car dealership’s customers deciding to Share the Love.
St. Cloud Subaru General Manager Bobby Konnight told KNSI News the total is the most we’ve ever done for a single hometown charity. “To get to that much from people in the community buying Subarus and choosing the Greater St. Cloud Public Safety Foundation and the COP House, just shows you how a community can make a difference for sure.”
The dealership donated $350 for every new car bought or leased between November 20th to January 4th to the charity of the customer’s choice. Konnight said his staff was always willing to steer people to the COP House. “There’s plenty of them that they could have chosen from, but they saw the importance. And with a good pitch from us, to let them know what’s going on here, you can definitely tell that they saw it. And that’s how we got up to $71,000, which is $20,000 more than we’ve ever done in a single year.”
The COP House is in one of St. Cloud’s most troubled neighborhoods and focuses on bringing community policing to the area. The house has kids’ programs, including basketball, reading, soccer, fishing, hockey, dental assistance, and more.
Greater St. Cloud Public Safety Foundation Board Member Brian Myres talked with KNSI News at the check presentation and said the building is good for the block. “This neighborhood is clearly safer than it was. And I think building trust between law enforcement and the community is really important. When police officers are serving ice cream to kids, good things happen. And it’s really been exciting.”
Myres says the COP House is grateful for the support, and it has been so successful they plan to add more. “To get a big donation like this really does make a difference. We have the community outpost here on the south side. We’re going to be developing two more in St. Cloud, and are excited about that. It’s really making a difference.”
He says one will be built in East St. Cloud and the other in another part of town, yet to be determined. Myres says he couldn’t share any more information on the progress of the two additional houses other than to say they are in the planning stages.
Konnight says this was the first year the COP House was its hometown charity for the Share the Love challenge and plans to fundraise for them again in the fall.
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