Dutch Schrap, founder of Operation Nine Reindeer, left, with Towamencin Police Chief Tim Troxel, right.
With the impacts of another year in a pandemic hitting many families across the community, a little holiday cheer can help lift our spirits — and possibly give some a reason to let their beards grow out.
Officers at the Towamencin Township Police Department stopped shaving for two months as part of their “Let it Grow” charitable initiative. The event was originally called “No Shave November,” which was a fundraiser for men’s cancer. Within the last few years, the police department decided to branch out and fundraise for other causes besides men’s cancer.
The main task is for participating police officers to be clean-shaven at the start of the month and to not shave for the next two months. Donations were made by the participating officers as well as non-participating female officers or other officers and community members. The department also held events and activities and posted on social media to fundraise more money. The donations would go towards a local charity that they change every year.
“[Officers] need to shave every day, so it's a little bit of a break and a novelty for us, and the guys enjoy doing that,” said Towamencin Police Chief Tim Troxel, who participated in the fundraiser for the first time this year after joining the department in January 2021. “And then when you can parlay that into a good cause where you're able to give back to the community and know that that fundraising is going to stay local and go to a good charitable organization. It's kind of a win-win.”
This year, the “Let it Grow” initiative raised $2,556, which went towards Operation Nine Reindeer — a Christmas-based organization that helps local families by delivering contributions and donations in a cheerful manner. During the holidays, the organization’s founder, Dutch Schrap, also known as “America’s Favorite Santa,” comes in dressed as Santa to surprise the families.
The department posted before and after photos on their Facebook to help keep the community engaged. Throughout the two months, they continued with updates of the officers and their beards. They sold t-shirts as another means of collecting donations. They also had a trivia night at the Mainland Grille, which agreed to donate 15% of their restaurant sales the day of the trivia night.
“It helps everybody be able to give back a little bit, especially at the holiday times when people have maybe a little more need for things, and then it engages the community in our efforts as well,” Troxel said.
The initiative served as a cheerful way to get everyone in the police department as well as community members involved to help out local families in need during the holidays.
“We have officers that donated that weren't even participating. We also had female civilians, our clerical staff that made the same donation that the officers would make to participate knowing that they weren't really going to be able to do anything different or special but just wanting to contribute,” Troxel said. “I think that says a lot for the caliber of people and staff that we have at the police department and how much you know being involved and giving back to the community means to everybody.”
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