Help Support Special Olympics and Eat a Cheeseburger!

On Saturday, October 13, 2012, Sheriff's Office deputies will be participating in the Tip-A-Cop event at Red Robin Gourmet Burgers at Citrus Park Mall to help raise awareness and funding for Special Olympics Florida. Deputies and Special Olympics athletes will be there from 10:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. At last year’s Red Robin Tip-A-Cop event, HCSO deputies help to raise over $3,300.00 and were the highest grossing Tip-A-Cop out of a handful of the other Red Robin locations in Florida. This year, several new Red Robin locations have been added throughout Florida, so HCSO deputies and Red Robin-Citrus Park hope to exceed last year’s amount raised and beat the other Florida locations!

Tip-A-Cop is part of the annual Law Enforcement Torch Run (LETR) campaign. LETR, which includes a statewide series of relay runs and special events like Tip-A-Cop, is made possible by more than 5,000 Florida law enforcement officers who help raise money and public awareness for Special Olympics Florida. Globally, the LETR is the largest grassroots fundraiser and public awareness vehicle for Special Olympics. Special Olympics Florida provides year-round sports training and competition to 15,000 children and adults with intellectual disabilities, at no cost to the athlete or their caregiver, as a means to achieve physical fitness, self-esteem, socialization skills, and the life skills necessary to be a productive, respected and contributing members of their communities. For more information about Special Olympics Florida, please visit www.specialolympicsflorida.org

Supporting local and national causes, like Special Olympics, that promote the health and welfare of families and citizens in local communities is an important part of the Red Robin culture. Red Robin has been supporting Special Olympics Programs across the country for the past six years and has helped raise more than $1.5 million for Special Olympics. To donate or to find out more about Red Robin's Tip-A-Cop event, visit http://www.redrobin.com/specialolympics/.

For more information or event details from the Sheriff's Office, please visit http://www.hcso.tampa.fl.us/Articles/Articles/Tip-A-Cop.aspx or contact Deputy Chris DePolis, of the Sheriff's Office Community Outreach Division, at (813) 247-0947.