Spreading good will through donuts
One 10-year-old boy from the panhandle of Florida is taking the country by storm as part of a campaign to thank law enforcement officers for their service through a universally appreciated sweet treat – donuts.
Tyler Carach, at the time just eight years old, went into a supermarket with his mother, Sheena, and saw a few local police deputies inside. Tyler asked his mom, a former law enforcement officer, if he could spend his allowance on donuts to give to the deputies. Since that day, Carach and his mom have traveled to 40 states and handed out over 70,000 donuts to law enforcement officers, spreading good will and frosted, sugary sweetness with every adventure.
While Sheena said they finance their own travels, the donuts are almost always donated by local donut franchises such as Dunkin Donuts and Krispy Kreme. They are in the process of incorporating their campaign – dubbed “I DONUT Need a Reason to Thank a Cop – as an official 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Tyler’s mission has landed him on the Today Show and The Steve Harvey Show, in addition to many local news outlets across the country.
“Every time we get home he’s like, “When can we go out again,” said Sheena as Tyler bounced around from officer to officer at the Warwick Police Department on Monday morning. “It’s so rewarding to be able to do something kind for someone else.”
Tyler says that he was encouraged to begin his journey when he learned from his mom that some people judge all officers “as a whole due to the actions of a few” and that they have faced violence as a result. Tyler has repeatedly stated he wants to give a donut to every police officer in America.
For those wondering about how Tyler can travel the country despite being in school, his mother makes sure to contact the school ahead of their trips and gets his work in advance, teaching him lessons as they drive from police station to police station.
On Monday Tyler first visited police officers in Cranston and then delivered 240 donuts to Warwick police officers before moving on to Providence. He took photos, chatted and joked with officers and received a commendation from Mayor Joseph Solomon. He also got to spend a lot of time with K-9 Officer Fox, as Tyler hopes to become a K-9 officer when he grows up.
Donning a cape fashioned by his grandmother adorned with donuts and the organization’s name, it wouldn’t seem a stretch to consider the young man a hero of good will spreading a message of positivity throughout the country.
