Prospect Park police officer spearheads autism acceptance initiative to benefit Interboro School District
PROSPECT PARK, Pa. (CBS) — A police department in Delaware County is supporting autism acceptance by selling vibrant shoulder patches.
The patches feature a colorful jigsaw puzzle superimposed on the logo of the Prospect Park Police Department.
Prospect Park police officer Raul Forsmark has been spearheading the initiative since mid-February. He says the response from the community has been overwhelming.
"Our first week, we basically sold out of the patches," Officer Forsmark said. "Our original order was 200. And soon as the Facebook post went up, the response was amazing."
So far, the department has raised about $2,000. All of the proceeds will go to the Interboro School District to buy supplies like sensory toys for its special needs program.
"I think it's awesome," said Kimberly Boswell, principal of the Prospect Park School, which serves 20 students with autism. "I think the Prospect Park police do a really nice job working with us as a community, so I think it's really nice to merge the two community resources together for the benefit of the kids."
Forsmark says he was inspired to launch the campaign because of his former co-worker and good friend Robert Tice, who has two children with autism.
"We kind of wanted to be the first to do this in the county," Forsmark said. "As far as I know, we are the first. I could put a challenge out to other departments in the county to do the same thing. It's a good cause."
