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Academy supports ‘amazing’ Birmingham police officer’s good deeds with $500 shopping spree

HOOVER — The good deeds of one ordinary Alabama police officer served as a shining light on an otherwise dreary fall morning on Tuesday, with hope winning the day.

After Yellowhammer News last week reported on Officer Christopher Lassinger inspiring his community in Birmingham’s West End with ‘random acts of kindness,’ such as buying the local children a new basketball net and spending his free time playing with them, Academy Sports + Outdoors decided to help this officer make an even greater impact.

In an email, an Academy spokesperson said, “I wanted to let you know that we were moved by his actions and want to help him continue to give back to the community.”

That is exactly what happened on Tuesday at the chain’s location off of John Hawkins Parkway, where store manager Nicole Burns presented Lassinger with a $500 gift card to go towards the needs and wants of the at-risk children in Lassinger’s patrol area.

Burns told Lassinger while presenting the gift card, “We support everything you’re doing.”

She also praised his “selfless acts.”

Lassinger explained that he felt guilty receiving all of the attention for helping the kids in the community, emphasizing that police officers across Birmingham, Alabama, and the nation do these kinds of deeds, and much more, on a daily basis.

“Mine was nothing compared to what [other police officers] do. Nothing, in my opinion,” Lassinger told Yellowhammer News.

Normally, these above-and-beyond acts by law enforcement goes unpublicized, because media outlets generally tend to report negative news.

“It happens every day,” Lassinger outlined. “It might not be standing on the back of a bumper and hanging up a new net, but whether it’s buying a hotel room for somebody who’s homeless or buying food or buying clothes or going on shopping sprees for somebody who doesn’t have something or paying power bills, you know little stuff like that, nobody sees any of that.”

“And officers do it all the time, constantly with no recognition,” Lassinger continued.

That is what makes Academy’s gift so special, with the officer expressing that he was “overwhelmed” by the outpouring of support for his community and for law enforcement in general after the story initially broke.

“It’s just a blessing, it’s completely unexpected,” he advised, adding that he was excited and appreciative to have Academy’s support so he could “go out and continue to give back to [his] community like [he] love[s] doing.”

(Pictured: Lassinger with Nicole Burns)

Lassinger began his shopping spree for the community, buying some basketballs and footballs, along with a spare net or two. Moving forward, he is going to go talk to the kids and people in the community to see what the biggest needs are, and just in time for the Christmas season, too. It is a time of year for hope, and Lassinger is shining a light for those children to follow.

And for him, the ultimate reward is seeing that hope – that joy – in the kids’ eyes.

“Just the smiles on their faces, really — that’s why I do it,” Lassinger shared.

“We get in this profession for a reason — to help people,” Lassinger said. “And if me doing stuff like this changes those kids’ mindsets for the rest of their lives … I’m doing my job.”

Sean Ross is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn

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