Official logo of Santa Cruz (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The Santa Cruz Police Department received word today that local businesses, responding to the recent tragedy, have committed $125,000 to seed the Sgt. Butch Baker and Det. Elizabeth Butler Scholarship Fund.
The effort was spearheaded by PredPol – the Santa Cruz-based predictive policing company that partnered with Santa Cruz Police to develop a predictive policing program. “We view Santa Cruz Police as our family and this loss as a family loss,” PredPol CEO Caleb Baskin said. “We want to encourage the community to join with us in committing funds to help these families during these unbelievably difficult times.”
Members of the community that want to donate to the fund can do so easily by visiting the City of Santa Cruz‘s website at www.cityofsantacruz.com
“We are just beginning to pick up the pieces and look toward the future,” Police Chief Kevin Vogel said. “Without community support, this healing process would take even longer. I’m not sure how long it will take to return to normalcy, but I do know that it wouldn’t even be possible if we didn’t have support from the community like this.”
“We are committed to supporting our Police Department and the families of the fallen officers for the long term,” Mayor Hilary Bryant said, “and this outpouring of support from local businesses shows our community is behind these families.”
The following businesses and individuals have contributed to the $125,000 fund:
Major contributions came from Plantronics, Ow Family Businesses, Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, PredPol, Baskin & Grant Law Firm, Erik’s Deli Café, Barry Swenson Builder, Santa Cruz Warriors and NextSpace Coworking.
Also making generous contributions to encourage further community involvement were Lighthouse Bank, Bookshop Santa Cruz, Dell Williams, Sun Shops, Timerie Gordon & Christian Nielson, the Pacific Collegiate Charter School Board of Directors, Joseph Marini III, Whitings Foods, the Penny Ice Creamery, Fred Keeley, Bruce & Mary McPherson, Marybeth Campbell & Carolyn Hill, Ryan Coonerty & Emily Bernard, Mayor Hilary Bryant & David Shuman, and Supervisor Zach Friend.
