TEMPLE, Texas — Children from a Belton church took a vested interest in their community this July, making a special donation to the Temple Police Department.
After Belton 1st United Methodist Church's children's ministry came up with the idea to raise money for their community, church members came together to make it happen.
The children decided they wanted their philanthropy to go towards helping Temple PD's K9 units, so they began collecting and selling old shoes to raise money for their cause. With the help of donations from church members, the children were able to raise enough money to purchase new protective vests for all three of the department's K9 dogs.
Temple PD said the vests are custom-made for each dog and can protect them from bullets and stabbings.
"Just like any other officer, these guys go into the danger," said Nick Prouty, a K9 Officer in the Temple Police Department. "You never know what you're going to come across at any time and just like we're protected, we want them to be protected as well. We were contacted by a member of the church and we said 'Yes we would love to, you know, if you could help out that would be great', and they came through. It started out with one dog and it grew to three."
Thanks to the children and their generosity, each one of Temple PD's four-legged officers is now a little safer.
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