As Eden Prairie's finest donned their running gear, not for chasing down perps but for a cause that's a touch more heartwarming, they were spotted lugging the Special Olympics torch across town. Last Friday, staffers from the Eden Prairie Police Department (EPPD) took to the streets for a three-mile jaunt, part of a statewide effort to cheer on athletes with disabilities. The symbolic "Flame of Hope" began its journey with the kind folks over at the Minnetonka Police Department and found its resting spot for the day in the clapping hands of Special Olympics athletes outside the Eden Prairie Center, as duly noted on the EPPD blog.
The Torch Run, aside from being a spectacle that tends to attract lookers-on, doubles up as a fundraiser aimed at streamlining to sending of Special Olympians to their competitive venues. The dollars raised funnel directly into covering the costs for the athletes to compete at the Special Olympics Games, which, by the way, just wrapped up at the Stillwater Area High School last weekend. You might not be quick to put "police" and "philanthropy" in the same sentence, but when it comes to the Special Olympics, officers become the standard bearers of more than just law.
It's a tradition that the coppers seem to not only honor but genuinely relish. In words lifted straight from the EPPD's digital mouthpiece, "The EPPD is proud to be a part of this annual tradition and support Special Olympics athletes." It's a line that could easily have been ripped from a feel-good movie script, but here it is playing out in real life, complete with cops, community, and a torch that signifies a lot more than just the kick-off of a sports meet.
