A Piece of Home: Judy Wise’s Care Packages for PCPD Officers Serving Our Country

2 days ago

3 min read

Some of the most meaningful acts of support never happen at a podium or a fundraiser. Sometimes they begin with a box being packed for someone far from home.

When members of the Plant City Police Department are called away from Plant City for military service, board member Judy Wise makes sure they know their hometown has not forgotten them. She puts together care packages for PCPD officers serving away from home and sends them a simple but powerful message: the community they protect is still standing behind them while they serve our country, too.

For Judy, it is not about recognition. It is about noticing that someone is away from their family, their coworkers and the routines of home, and doing something tangible to remind them that they are still part of the Plant City family.

Supporting the Person Behind the Badge

A police officer who is called to military duty carries two commitments to service. One is visible every day in Plant City. The other may take that officer hundreds or thousands of miles away. Either way, the person behind the badge is still a neighbor, a coworker, a spouse, a parent, a friend and a member of this community.

That is what makes Judy’s care packages matter. The package itself may travel far beyond Plant City, but what it carries is a connection back home. It tells an officer that while their assignment has changed, their community has not stopped thinking about them.

This kind of quiet service is familiar territory for Judy. For years, she has devoted her time to veterans, active-duty military members, first responders, police families and local civic organizations. In 2022, the Plant City Police Department recognized that commitment when then-Chief Jim Bradford presented her with the Chief’s Award for her tireless support of the department, including her work supporting police families and honoring officers through community service.

Where Judy’s Service Meets the Foundation’s Mission

Judy’s care packages are a personal act of service, not something we want to misrepresent as a Foundation-funded program. But they capture something central to why the Friends of the Plant City Police Department Foundation exists.

The Foundation gives our community an organized way to stand behind the men and women of the Plant City Police Department. Through charitable support and community partnership, it helps strengthen officer and support staff programs, public safety initiatives, training and equipment, youth outreach and the relationships that connect PCPD with the people it serves.

That mission is bigger than any one project. It is about building a culture in which support for our officers does not begin only when there is an emergency and does not end when a uniform is out of sight.

Strong communities remember the people who serve them, wherever that service takes them.

A Community That Remembers Its Own

There is something uniquely Plant City about a care package sent to an officer serving far from home. It is personal. It is practical. And it comes from a community where people still notice when one of their own is gone.

Judy has often described life as being about what we do with the time between our beginning and our end, the “dash” between the dates. Her care packages are one small example of what that philosophy looks like in practice. See a need. Remember a person. Do something.

The Friends of the Plant City Police Department Foundation is proud to have people like Judy serving on its board, and we are equally grateful for the donors, sponsors, volunteers and neighbors who help turn that same spirit of support into lasting impact for PCPD and our community.

Stand Behind Those Who Serve Plant City

Whether an officer is working a shift here at home or answering a military call to serve somewhere far away, they remain part of this community. Supporting the Foundation is one way Plant City can continue showing the men and women of PCPD that their service is seen, valued and remembered.

Learn more about the Friends of the Plant City Police Department Foundation, support the mission, or find ways to get involved at friendsofpcpd.org.