After weeks of fundraising by Senior Interact, Physics teacher George Hademenos and Principal Chris Choat presented a check for $500 to the Richardson Police Department on March 23rd in honor of Officer David Sherrard, the ever first officer to die in the line of duty for the RPD.

Physics teacher George Hademenos organized the fundraiser with Senior Interact, but Assistant Principal Michael Westfall came up with the idea of fundraising money for the family after hearing about the tragedy and seeing Officer Sherrard two weeks before the tragedy happened at a Wylie band event.

“I didn’t know him by name but when I saw his picture it just kinda hit me and I wanted to do something,” Westfall said.

Senior Interact collected the donations by setting up a donations table where students could drop money into a jar to help support the family during lunches.

“We thought it was a great way to help the family giving them a little bit of support but also knowing that it came from Richardson High School allows them to know that they have support from the community,” senior Rheal Zackaria said.

After Richardson Police Department received the money for Officer Sherrard’s family, many police officers said they felt the support of the community while grieving their loss of a fellow Officer.

“It was very dramatic, there are almost no words for it because you know the relationship that a lot of communities have with law enforcement is bad in a lot of areas, but here it is definitely not,” Sergeant Eric Willadsen said.