ADAMS, Mass. — Amidst a worldwide health pandemic, civil unrest stretching from coast to coast, and a presidential election full of vitriol that has spurred a culture war between politicians and voters alike, grade-schooler Paige Green decided she wanted to do something nice. 

 

The recently turned 7-year-old opted to forgo birthday gifts this year and instead raise some money for animals. Enter the Adams Police Department and its 9-year-old K-9, Kumar.

 

"[Officer] Nick Dabrowski reached out to me and said, 'Hey a family friend is looking to do a fundraiser.' Paige had a birthday coming up and decided that instead of gifts, she wanted to raise money for animals and they figured we had [Kumar]. In the beginning I thought any little bit would help, 50 bucks, 100 bucks will go towards dog food. I was being serious in that I thought that's what it was gonna be," said Kumar's partner and full-time handler Officer Curtis Crane.

 

"I reached out to [Officer Travis Cunningham], who does our Facebook, and the chief and said, 'hey, are you OK with this if I put it on our Facebook as the Adams PD?' and it just took off from there."

 

The star of the day, young Miss Green, gave a matter-of-fact shrug and straightforward answer when asked how she came up with the idea.

 

"First I wanted to do a donation for abandoned pets but then I decided I wanted to do this one," she said. 

 

It was just that simple. Two thousand dollars later and Kumar is rolling in kibble.

 

Paige's parents were as surprised as Crane by the response from donors. 

 

"We were thinking we'd be surprised to get $500," Jason and Terry Green agreed. "Every time we hit the goal we would just raise it a little bit more and we finally decided we would just stop at $2,000." 

 

The final tally actually exceeded that number and will be used for food, any potential veterinary bills, and unforeseen emergencies among other things. The money that is donated for Kumar is earmarked solely for the purpose of keeping the narcotics tracking dog as healthy and happy as possible so he can continue to do his job in helping keep drugs out of Adams.

 

Paige was unimpressed with all the fuss being made over her. Despite being presented with a plaque for "Exemplary Service to the Town of Adams," being made an honorary officer for the day, and having the run of the police station, she was much more concerned that daddy wore his "house shoes" to the station.

 

She was given temporary authority to arrest anyone she cared to (nobody, not even from school), but when asked if she would arrest someone she found robbing a bank, she quickly said yes, so there may be a future for her in law enforcement after all. 

 

With the promise of pizza, a seat in the K-9 cruiser for more time with Kumar, and perhaps some fingerprinting and booking someone into a cell in the near future, Paige subtly signaled an end to the boring adult law-and-order conversation by declaring in perfect 7-year-old fashion, "I can do things with my belly."

 

An incredible selfless gesture by a funny, generous girl. Vote Paige Green in November.