Cop Spends His Last Day On The Job Handing Out Gift Cards To Strangers

Cop Spends His Last Day On The Job Handing Out Gift Cards To Strangers

A police officer traded parking tickets for gift certificates, to give back to the community he loves.

Cmdr. Brian Peters, an officer in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, spent his last day on the job giving out gift cards to people in his community, KARE reported.

"The citizens and city have been wonderful to me," he told the news outlet. "I am very blessed so it feels good to always give back."

Peters was a member of the Brooklyn Center Police Department for 14 years, ABC news reported. On his final day, he bought the equivalent of his daily paycheck in gift cards to Target and the grocery chain Cub Food, each worth $50, and began handing them out to people in Brooklyn Center.

"My goal was to walk around the city and just find people that could maybe use a little extra cash or income to buy the kids some toys,” Peters said.

Over the course of a few hours, Peters drove around the town, searching for people to share the gifts with. Among the recipients was Shaundra Lindsay, who said she will use the gift card to buy food and back-to-school essentials, after Peters met her with three of her children at a bus stop.

“It was a surprise,” she told KARE. “He blessed us and I am really happy about that."

The officer also surprised a mother of four at a laundromat, a woman with a damaged car and a 20-year-old man and his girlfriend.

Peters hopes his initiative will help build positive relationships between citizens and their local police force, and encourage other people to be charitable within their community.

"Community service is extremely important, and when you're fortunate in life, you should give back to others who aren't as fortunate," he told ABC News. "That's what makes the world go 'round."

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