This Denver police officer went well beyond the call of duty to assist a woman in need and this story is sure to put a smile on your face.
The nonprofit group Citizens Appreciate Police decided to provide her with some much-needed acknowledgment for her efforts. The story starts innocently enough, too. According to a Facebook post from the organization, Officer Melissa Martin of the Denver Police Department was on the job one day.
She was in the process of responding to a noise complaint when the story begins in earnest. When she arrived at the home on New Year’s Eve, she learned that the woman residing there had a very sad story to tell. As it turns out, she had recently escaped from an abusive relationship and was trying her best to make it on her own.
Substance abuse and mental illness were making it very hard for her to survive. She ended up telling Officer Martin that she had not eaten in the past four or five days.
Melissa’s heart was touched and she knew that she had to do something. She took a closer look at her fridge and saw that there was nothing inside. At this point, what else could she do?
She took money out of her own pocket and bought the woman a week’s worth of groceries. “I try really hard not to judge just try to help them in the situation that they find themselves,” Martin said in an interview with The Denver Gazette. “If the world would just treat people like they would like to be treated, how much of a difference might that make?”
This past Wednesday, she received an award from the aforementioned organization. This is not what Melissa works for. She wants to help people in any way that she can but it is always nice to receive some acknowledgment.
For their part, Citizens Appreciate Police works tirelessly to show their appreciation for the kind officers out there like Melissa. They award those who go “above and beyond the regular call of duty.”