To the Editor:

If you were downtown last Thursday night for the premier of “Made in Iowa,” you were graced to see much of our local community coming together to celebrate what is best about Webster City: our quality of life, our neighborliness, our resiliency in the face of setbacks. Hamilton County Crimestoppers was there operating a nickel scramble for children 12 and under, and if you have ever seen one of our scrambles in progress, you know what fun it is to see young ones digging through sawdust in hopes of filling a cup with real nickels.

Seeing our children playing and having a good time Thursday night, we were reminded why the work of Hamilton County Crimestoppers matters. In 2011 concerned citizens of our county came together to re-start Hamilton County Crimestoppers so that our communities remain safe places where our children can flourish without fearing they will become victims of crime. Toward this end, Hamilton County. Crimestoppers maintains a TipSoft anonymous tip line for reporting information about criminal activity, publishes bimonthly “Most-Wanted” posters with rewards, and works to improve communication between citizens and our local law enforcement agencies. The work of Hamilton County Crimestoppers has resulted in the arrest of over 100 individuals for criminal activity, and has paid out more than $4,500 in rewards. We are proud of our work, and we know that it matters to every citizen in this county.

However, after six years of operations Hamilton County Crimestoppers is nearly out of funds, and we need help. In the near future Board members of Hamilton County Crimestoppers will be calling on local businesses and citizens, asking them to donate the funds we need to continue our work. Many businesses and local citizens have already donated in the past, and we are grateful for your past support. But in order to continue the work of keeping our communities safe for all of us–especially our children–we must ask again for more monetary support.

If you are reading this and would like to make a tax-deductible donation to Hamilton County Crimestoppers, please send your donation to: Hamilton County Crimestoppers, PO Box 315, Webster City.

And if you are contacted to make a donation to Crimestoppers, please consider how important safe communities are for all of us, and give generously. Thank you.

Terry Christensen, Kathy Getting, Wendi Dinsdale, Mary Harris, Craig Blaufuss, Katie Talbot, Darlene Dingman and Dalene Schlitter

Hamilton County

Crimestoppers Board