Sarasota Police Foundation and Crime Stoppers of Sarasota County provide $2,000 for the initiative
Officers with the Sarasota Police Department Community Relations Unit spent part of Giving Tuesday (Dec. 2) giving away free gas to drivers throughout the City of Sarasota, the Police Department has announced.
“The gas was paid for by the Sarasota Police Foundation and Crime Stoppers of Sarasota County,” a news release explains. “Each organization donated $1,000 toward the gas giveaway, for a total of $2,000,” the release added.
“One of our core values for the Sarasota Police Department is service,” said Sarasota Police Chief Rex Troche in the release. “It’s an opportunity for us to give back to our community, especially on this Giving Tuesday. This is an opportunity for officers to interact with people in a one-on-one setting,” Troche continued in the release, “and it really shows what police officers are all about. Officers are about service, professionalism and dedication, so this builds our relationships with our community even more,” Troche pointed out.
“As drivers pulled up to a gas pump, Sarasota Police officers walked over and asked whether they wanted to take a photo together,” the release explains. Once the drivers agreed, the officers took the photos and then announced that they were going to fill up the drivers’ gas tanks, the release added.
“A lot of people are very humble and they are very thankful, but we don’t know what people are going through,” said Officer Whitney Bentz of the Sarasota Police Community Relations Unit, in the release. “If we can just give them a little bit of gas to get drivers through the day, that’s the least we can do.”
Officers visited three gas stations: the Wawa standing at 2257 Fruitville Road; the Speedway located at 600 N. Washington Blvd.; and the Circle K standing at 1801 S. Tamiami Trail, the release noted.