El Dorado County Sheriff's Office 2017 Annual Report | Page 42

STARS Program

The STARS (Sheriff’s Team of Active Retirees) is

a volunteer organization whose function is to

assist and support the El Dorado County

Sheriff’s Office. The nearly 100 volunteers

provide a broad spectrum of community

services which capitalize on the skills,

aptitudes and preferences of its members to

support the sheriff’s mission throughout El

Dorado County.

These trained volunteers are the “eyes and

ears” of the Sheriff’s Department who strive to

have a positive impact in the community.

Although assigned a regular list of duties within

the department, STAR volunteers are always

willing to help the department in whatever they

can.

In 2017, STAR volunteers participated in over

71 special events serving the community. They

assisted in many county events including: Cub

Scout Day Camp, Aqua Sol Swim Meet, Pollock

Pines 4th of July Parade, Moore Chili Cook-off,

Coloma Gold Rush Days, Georgetown’s Safe

Halloween Night, Snowline Hospice Holiday

Spectacular and many more. STAR volunteers

also delivered over 60 food baskets for the El

Dorado County Food Banks “No Vet Goes

Hungry Program.”

On any given day STARS can be seen throughout

the Sheriff’s Department doing duties which

include: patrol, deploying the radar trailer,

home checks, assisting at the El Dorado Hills

and Georgetown substations, transporting

Sheriff’s vehicles, Neighbor Watch Programs,

vehicle abatement checks and the You Are Not

Alone (YANA) Program.

This year STAR Volunteers have donated over

25,210 hours to the Sheriff’s Office and find

great value and purpose in giving back to their

community.

The STAR volunteer program is blessed to have volunteers like Jack and Mary Pratt. Jack has been a volunteer with the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office since March of 1996 and Mary joined the STARS in July of 2001. Together they have donated over 18,500 hours to our department.

In 2017, the Pratts volunteered to help out at over 25 community events. Jack and Mary do patrols and special events together and Mary runs our YANA program which both Jack and Mary participate in.

The YANA Program has been credited with saving the lives of many older adults who live alone and have fallen or become sick during the night. The YANA volunteers have provided daily telephone calls to our most vulnerable seniors and disabled adults living in El Dorado County. In November, 2017, The California Retired Teachers Association donated 60 gift baskets to the YANA program and Jack and Mary Pratt personally delivered about half of those baskets!

Jack and Mary were the proud recipients of the

2016 El Dorado County Seniors of the Year

Award. The El Dorado County Sheriff's Office is

proud to have them as part of the team!

25,210 Volunteer Hours

71 Community Events

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