Some Dallas Police officers are going beyond the call of duty to bring smiles - and shoes - to kids in the neighborhoods they patrol. They're this week''s KRLD Difference Makers.
When he was a kid, Senior Corporal Jose Gamez says Dallas Police officers made a huge impact on him.
"I was born and raised in Dallas in a rough neighborhood and they had similar programs that we have now. They would have baseball programs for the summer, for the kids that wanted to play so our coaches would be police officers. I was in these programs with them and instead of being on the streets I would be playing baseball with them and being coached by police officers," Sr. Cpl. Gamez said. "One day I said, 'You know, I want to do that too.'"
And that's exactly what he did. Gamez became a police officer and was a patrol officer for 10 years before joining the Neighborhood Police Officer, or NPO Unit. Now as an NPO, he's helping kids the same way he was helped as a kid.
"Now that I'm in the NPO unit I'm able to get kids and steer them in the right way," Gamez said.
In the same spirit of giving back, Gamez and his partner, Officer Michael Villanueva, took over a program that was started 6 years ago, called Share the Shoes.
"Along with Energy Transfer and Sunoco LP, they did a shoe drive where they collected brand new shoes and we went to the different Dallas Recreation Centers here in the Northwest Division. They have a summer program and we took the shoes out there and fitted the kids with new shoes so they could have them for school," Villanueva said.
For some of these kids it's the only new thing they'll receive.
"One of the reasons why we became police officers and we got in this unit was to help these kids. You know just seeing their faces and seeing these shoes, these kids sometimes they'll have shoes that are a size or two too small for them, they have holes in their shoes. So sometimes they may not have the opportunity to get brand new shoes so when they get them and you see the look on their faces it makes you proud to do the job that we've been doing," Villanueva said.
Now Gamez says he hopes he can positively influence kids the same way officers did when he was a kid.
"It feels great on my end. Me experiencing that as a kid growing up in a Dallas neighborhood and now me doing the same thing that these officers used to do for me," Gamez said. "I'm hoping one day in the future I run into a kid and they say, 'I became a police officer because of you.' Hopefully that happens one day."
We're proud to call Dallas Police Officer Michael Villanueva and Sr. Cpl. Jose Gamez and Share the Shoes this week's KRLD Difference Makers.
If you know someone making a difference in the community, send us an email at differencemaker@krld.com.
Related
LISTEN on the Audacy App
Tell your Smart Speaker to "PLAY 1080 KRLD"
Sign Up and Follow NewsRadio 1080 KRLD