Local Students Raise Money To Preserve Fallen Officer's Legacy
CLAYSVILLE (KDKA) – Since the death of Officer John Dryer earlier this week, there has been an outpouring of support for his family.
A single comment on Facebook began a movement to keep Officer Dryer's legacy alive.
While Claysville, Washington County is not the biggest place in the world, it is a place with some very big hearts.
Now, some young men have come together in an effort to help a fallen officer's son and to preserve a the officer's legacy of giving.
"When I heard about it and when we all heard about it, it was just such a tragedy to all of us. Just because we couldn't imagine what it would be like, we had to do something to at least try to soften that blow," Jordan Main said.
"He was just a good guy. Never heard anything bad about him," Kaleb Seabright said.
Main and Seabright are seniors at McGuffey High School.
Originally, they were looking to help Officer Dryer's surviving son and classmate, 17-year-old Ben.
They were looking to get him a gift, but when someone took care of that, they decided to take another track.
"When that came around, we decided we could take the proceeds from the original idea and take it and put it into the charities and foundations that Officer Dryer was involved in himself," Main said.
So, they set up boxes and buckets around town to collect donations.
"The way I looked at it, the Boxes for Ben thing was easy because I hate change in my pocket. So, after I make something, if I have 96 cents in my pocket, I throw it in the charity box," Seabright said. "We actually raised almost $140 yesterday. That was the first day. I made almost $100 just at my school. We have boxes going up all throughout town. If this was my father, I would want my friends to do this for me."
That is at the heart of it all. It's an effort to comfort a young man's immeasurable pain and contribute something in the name of one who gave it all.
"Nothing can bring back a lost loved one, but at least you can continue to do what that loved one may have started," Main said.
While Main, Seabright and the other kids involved have a few buckets and boxes set up around town, they said if the interest is there, they'll be happy to make a few more.
For more information, visit the Boxes For Ben page on Facebook.
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