Tip-A-Cop, a Law Enforcement Torch Run fundraising event, hosted its annual fundraising event on Tuesday at MacKenzie River Pizza Company in Great Falls.
Quentin Shores reports - watch:
The world's largest grassroots fundraising event for Special Olympics saw guests flood to locations across Montana to support Special Olympic athletes.
The event began in Whitefish in 2011 and has since expanded to include Kalispell, Bozeman, Helena, Great Falls, Butte, Billings, and Missoula.
Law enforcement officers and department officials offered their time as "Celebrity Servers" to collect tips for Special Olympics Montana. These extra tips are in addition to the standard tip you would give for your server. All tips will benefit Special Olympics Montana, which provides year-round sports training and competition to over 3,800 individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
All donations raised through the Tip-A-Cop event remain in Montana, with 60% of the revenues staying in the community to assist cover competition and training expenses. The 40% helps to fund state-wide costs. For one day only, Mackenzie River is offering the Guardian Pizza, with proceeds from all sales of it going directly towards the Special Olympics.
It gets so packed in the restaurant, even at 11 a.m., that you would think the pope was in town. But really, it’s just people giving back to their community, and for cops like Lieutenant Zach Semenza, that’s what it’s all about.
The cops aren’t the only essential players, though, as Special Olympic volunteers like Carson Patten play a pivotal role in the operation. Doing things such as “serving food, taking orders, and cleaning off the table,” Patten told reporters. If it weren’t for the efforts put in by the volunteers and cops, this operation wouldn’t be going so smoothly.
