LYNNFIELD — Lynnfield Police Department, in partnership with the Northeast Arc and the Lynnfield Fire Department, held its first Coffee with a Cop event at MarketStreet Saturday morning.
The two-hour event not only was a fundraiser for families served by the Northeast Arc Autism Support Center, but also provided members of the public an opportunity to have a complimentary cup of coffee and learn more about the services the Arc and the Lynnfield Police Department can provide to local families.
“It was a great day despite the fact it was so cold. And we had people from all over come to talk with the police and fire departments as well as the Arc,” said Lynnfield resident Susan Parziale, event co-organizer along with Lynnfield Police Sergeant Chris DeCarlo. “The turnout was fantastic, so we were very happy. We were so fortunate to have Autism Support Center Program Director Nancy Lucier with us to help people with their questions, so it was a great experience.”
The event was catered by Panera Bread. UniCare General Manager David Morales, a Lynnfield resident, donated merchandise giveaways.
“Panera gave us a ton of food and coffee and UniCare gave us some serious swag,” Parziale said. “Every person who came and purchased a patch also received a UniCare-donated swag bag, so it was great.”
DeCarlo gave a shout-out to MarketStreet.
“We’ve received great support from MarketStreet, which gave us the spot and helped us set up,” said DeCarlo. “We’ve had tremendous help from members of the community, including (co-organizers) Susan Parziale, Dan Macintyre, and Julie Perrin, to name a few.”
Parziale praised the police department for helping to put the event together in the span of just a few weeks.
“We never brought the Autism Patch Program to Lynnfield. Reading had it, Stoneham had it, Braintree, the list goes on and on, so I reached out to ask if we could bring the program to Lynnfield and the department could not have been more supportive in making the program and this event today happen,” Parziale said. “The response today was incredible despite the fact that it was so cold and wet. People came who knew we were going to be there. People came who were just at MarketStreet and were curious about what was going on and just stopped by. The turnout was more than we expected.”
DeCarlo said the department has raised more than $2,000 through its patch sales.
“This is a great opportunity for us to broaden our community outreach programs,” he said. “It’s gone well so far. We’ve had a lot of positive feedback.”
That’s putting it mildly.
“I think we’ve sold out of the original order of 300 patches and now the Police Department has ordered 300 more,” Parziale said.
Parziale said the best part of the day for her was when a mother of a teenage boy with autism reached out for advice.
“Her son is high-functioning and is going to be starting driving soon so she was concerned about what she needed to know,” Parziale said. “When she asked that question, I looked at Chris and thought that’s exactly what we were trying to do with today’s event. It’s all about finding ways to provide people with answers to their questions and tell them about the services that are out there to help them. Being able to help that mother was just so special and the perfect way to end the day.
“If that one encounter is all that happened today to help just one family, then that’s a very good day and we are doing what we set out to do.”
Elyse Carmosino can be reached at [email protected].
