Members of the Pelham Police Department raised funds for local charities every November for the past two years. A group of officers approached Chief Joseph Roark in 2013 and asked if they could grow beards for the month of November. They told the Chief that they would each donate $50 to a local charity in order to participate. Chief Roark thought the idea was great and allowed the officers to grow neatly trimmed beards for the month.  From there, members donated at least $50 to the Pelham Police Relief Association, and once the month of November ended all the money raised was donated to charity through the PPRA.

In 2013, members of the police department voted that the Pelham Good Neighbor Fund should receive the funds raised. In 2014, members voted to donate any money raised to the “No Moore Cancer” Fund to benefit Officer Matt Moore. Officer Moore is a Hampstead, NH Police officer who is fighting cancer. Officer Moore and his wife Terri began their law enforcement careers with the Pelham Police.

This year members of the police department voted to donate the beard funds to the Pelham Community Coalition. The officers discussed their concerns about the current heroin epidemic. Nearly every officer in the department has performed CPR on a patient going through an opiate overdose prior to the fire department arriving to administer Narcan. Many of them have responded to fatal overdoses. They have all tried to help out by directing people battling addiction, family members and friends to drug and alcohol support services. The officers wanted to help stop the increase in substance abuse and felt that supporting the Coalition is an excellent way to help locally.

The Pelham Community Coalition is a non-profit group that is fighting the war on drug and alcohol addiction. They have participated in many community outreach forums in order to educate the public about the dangers of substance abuse. To find out more information about the Pelham Community Coalition please view one of the following links; https://www.facebook.com/Pelhamcommunitycoalition/ or http://www.pelhamsd.org/domain/476

The officers scheduled an official “Beard Off” at Scissors Palace on the morning of December 1st. Master Barber Alex Prudhomme of Scissors Palace has generously donated his time each year and once again will be shaving the officers’ beards on the 1st.  All the money raised will be donated on that date as well.

If you would like to donate money to the Coalition and join in on the PPD Beard Fundraiser, you can write a check out to the Pelham Police Relief Association in care of the Pelham Community Coalition.

Questions can be directed to Lt. Anne Perriello at (603) 635-2411.

Alert sent on 11/07/2015 at 10:07AM EST

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