Young Girls Surprise Cherry Hill Police Officers To Say Thank You
CHERRY HILL, N.J. (CBS) -- "It started when we were at 7-11, getting slurpees and we saw a police officer there so we started to hug him," said 10-year-old Gina Howell.
It all began with the heartfelt hug of a Cherry Hill Police officer. From there, Gina and her 7-year-old sister, Dana, knew they wanted to do something special for the entire police department.
"We got this idea for a thank you note for their service and for everything they've done for us and we decided to give them a cake," Gina said.
They picked out this cake, posted to the department's Facebook page, with a simple message:
"It says thank you for your service," Gina explained. The girls, with the help of their grandmother delivered the cake this week, bringing a smile to the faces of officers, still reeling from the loss of five of their brothers in blue, killed in an ambush attack in Dallas.
"It makes us feel good. It makes us feel proud," said Officer Renee Houlihan.
Officer Houlihan found out who the girls were and surprised them at their home, bearing police novelty gifts, even a gift card for their favorite drink, Slurpees.
As a veteran community affairs officers, she knows all too well the importance of establishing bonds with the community.
"It's really important, especially with the tragedies that happened in Dallas," she said.
"I want them to grow up to respect them," said the girls' mother Dana Kayser-Smith.
"I told them, maybe you're going to be the example that's going to make other kids want to do this and as they grow up, you guys will be changing what's going on now," said their grandmother, Cathy Jeffery.