WARREN, Mich. (WXYZ) — To know an officer is to know their love of privacy.
"We had no intention of this making the media," Warren Police Officer Brian Stanko said.
"We weren’t looking for fame," his work partner Officer Chad Rossow said. "We didn’t want any of that stuff. We were just focused on those teenage boys."
We wrangled the two officers into an interview because their story with Lillian Holt, a hard-working single mom to two teenage boys, is one that should be told.
It started when Stanko and Rossow responded to Holt's call for service at her Warren home this January.
"The big point of contention on that day was that the son wanted to play video games and his mom had to pawn off his play station for money," Stanko recounted.
Holt said the officers were "able to have a conversation with my kids and get them to calm down."
Stanko and Rossow's job duties stopped there, but they didn't.
"We were looking around and discovered the family didn’t have normal things like beds and couches or other types of furniture," Stanko said.
"As a single mother, sometimes, it is hard to ask for help," said Holt. "We do struggle a lot sometimes because it’s just us trying to provide."
Rossow said, "When we left, we kind of sat in the car and talked about it and we were just like ‘yeah we gotta do something.'"
The officers called friends, family and people they know at Walmart and were able to gather donations for Holt and her family.
They gathered beds, couches, a dresser, rugs, a dining room set, a TV and lots of groceries.
It took a trailer to drop them all off.
"Honestly, I was happy. I was happy as could be," Holt said.
A call for temporary help led to life-changing gifts and experiences.
Holt shared that this experience has changed the way that she sees law enforcement.
Rossow said that to him, that means "everything."
"We all are people, we all have families, we’re all human beings, we all have emotions. We are a lot more than just the badge," he said.
"The police is supposed to help the people and for me, that’s what they did," Holt said.
The officers are still working to help Holt.
For instance, she needs help getting her car running to get to and from work.
If you'd like to contribute to their efforts, you can reach them call 586-574-4831 or email jgajewski@warrenpd.org.
