Every year for the past 12 years, Dotty MacDonald, 96, solicits her friends and neighbors for donations so she can purchase restaurant gift cards to donate to the Newport Beach Police Department. Ther gift cards are tokens of gratitude and appreciation to the officers and staff at NBPD for keeping our community safe.
This year, MacDonald presented gift cards totaling $48,000 to the NBPD on Tuesday, June 30. The gift cards are valid at one of four different local restaurants: In-N-Out Burger, Chipotle, Chick-fil-A and Sergeant Pepperoni’s Pizza.
“I started out with just a donation $1,000 and now we’re up to $48,000,” said MacDonald, who noted that the gift cards were for restaurants that were easy to get in and out of—and fast so the officers could dine and get back to keeping Newport Beach safe.
MacDonald, who turns 97 in August, is known as the Fairy Godmother of the NBPD. She is often seen dining out around town with officers in uniform. She is also well known at the Newport Harbor Yacht Club, where she still volunteers on the race committee during regattas.
“This is a good reminder of how supportive our community is of us, and that they value the services that we provide,” said Chief Miner. “We have a very unique situation here, where we have a very, very good police department, the men and women here, and it all is driven by the community support that we feel.”
