West Hawaii Today reporter Chelsea Jensen wrote a fantastic article about Cop On Top, an annual fundraiser for Special Olympics West Hawaii. The story was published Sept. 4 and can be viewed on the newspaper’s Web site. Here’s an excerpt:
Thursday, at 6 a.m. sharp, officers climbed atop 20 feet of scaffolding, perching themselves above the Kailua-Kona Safeway parking lot calling upon customers to donate any extra money to the West Hawaii athletes.
Ah Mow and Sgt. Rollin Rabara, who are both using personal vacation time to participate in the event, will eat, sleep and collect donations for more than 50 hours this weekend. When night arrives, the music will quiet and Rabara and Ah Mow will nestle into their sleeping bags knowing that at 6 a.m. sharp, it’s time to continue raising funds for the athletes.
The officers will not step down until 2 p.m. Saturday, even if they make their goal of collecting some $15,000 for West Hawaii athletes before then, said Ah Mow, noting that throughout the three-day fundraising event other officers, as well as cadets, join in the effort.
“Just to see the faces on these athletes is why we do this — it’s total satisfaction and we are blessed to do what we can for these athletes,” Ah Mow said.
If $15,000 isn’t collected during the Labor Day weekend, officers will remain at the site until the goal has been reached, said Special Olympics West Hawaii Area Director Dave Ross.
“It takes a lot of passion to do it. It’s all about trying to make a difference in people’s lives,” said Rabara, who has also stood atop the scaffolding with Ah Mow for the past six years. “It’s even more gratifying to make a difference in someone else’s life who may not live what we feel to be a normal life.”
