Sheriff’s Office Donates Cleats to Rec Department

8 12 pcso cleat donation

Mike Williams/The Patriot

Members of the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office and Sheriff Mike Worrell present 100 pairs of sports cleats to the Pulaski County Parks and Recreation Department. Sheriff’s Office personnel (behind the shoe boxes) are – from left – Captain Lucas Nester, Investigator Rose Ellis, Sergeant Josh Bowden, Deputy David Cressell, Major Danny Johnson, Lieutenant Paul Akers and Sheriff Worrell. From the Rec Department are C.J. Burgis (front left), Shay Dunnigan and Tyler Holman.

By MIKE WILLIAMS

The Patriot

The Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday donated 100 pairs of sports cleats to the Pulaski County Parks and Recreation Department to allow all county youths a fair start in the sport of their choice.

“With the rising costs we are all experiencing, the strains on a household budget may be a deciding factor in youths not playing sports or potentially playing without the appropriate equipment,” said Sheriff Mike Worrell. “With the help of Dick’s Sporting Goods in Christiansburg and a recent change in the Asset Forfeiture Permissible Use Policy we are able to help alleviate the strain this would place on some families in Pulaski County.”

Worrell explained that Asset Forfeiture Funds are funds seized from illegal drug activity investigated by the office’s Patrol Division as well as the Claytor Lake Regional Drug Task Force. The funds seized during these arrests are many times awarded back to the agency/agencies who investigated, arrested and prosecuted the offenders.

As of July 1, funds that typically had to be used for law enforcement related purposes only, can now be used to strengthen relationships between the community and law enforcement.

Funds from asset seizures are not a budgeted line item for the Sheriff’s Office due to the infrequent nature of the funds and the length of time it takes for the funds to be awarded by the courts.

“It is our hope that by using a portion of these funds for causes such as this, it encourages the youth to play a sport and it takes some of the burden off of families who struggle with the expenses involved,” Worrell said.

“We appreciate the sheriff’s office thinking of the parks and recreation department and the youth in the county,” said Shay Dunnigan, Director of the Parks and Recreation Department, noting the donation is much needed in the community.

Worrell commended the legislative changes that provided his department the opportunity to “give back to the community.”

“It’s an awesome opportunity,” said Worrell to build relationships between the department and the community.