In the conference room of Assemblywoman Stacey Pheffer Amato’s office, a ceremony took place in honor of Andre Reliford Jr. – an NYPD Explorer who had been awarded a certificate from the Meringoff Family Foundation. Reliford Jr. applied for the Meringoff Victory Prize competition with three essays detailing his time in NYPD Explorers and what he learned.
“I’ve been in the NYPD Explorers for three years, just graduated from Rockaway Park High School and I’ll be attending Anna Maria College in Massachusetts in the fall,” said the honoree, who plans to major in criminal justice while studying political science.
During his three years with the Explorers, Reliford Jr. says he’s had his share of community service picking up trash, helping setting up events for the kids, and interacting with students at his school.
“I’m like an outlet. Kids at my school feel safe coming to me when there’s a problem,” Reliford Jr said. “One time, there was going to be a fight and I ended up mediating the situation to where nobody had to fight.”
He also helped implement a Virtual Reality program – known as the OPTIONS program – at his school, where students would experience different scenarios as a police officer, a kid, a teacher, or a parent. “So each scenario is a different situation,” the Explorer said. “You could be in a situation where you’ve been robbed, being cyberbullied, opioids or hate crimes.”
Assemblywoman Pheffer Amato, Officer Keith Richardson, and Officer Helen Olagunju congratulated the young man for his work as an Explorer and his time in the NYPD OPTIONS program.
“I just want to say that I met Andre three years ago. He was a knucklehead when I first met him,” Officer Richardson joked. “He was one of the class clowns but one day, he did something that redefined how I looked at him. These two kids were going to fight in class. And he stopped the fight, because he was interested in what we were bringing into that class with the OPTIONS program.”
Reliford Jr. became a positive influence going to all the schools on the Beach Channel campus getting kids to be interested in the OPTIONS program. He had kids that didn’t even take the program wanting to come to their classes.
“Andre, you’ve come a long way from then to the man you are now and I am very proud of you” said Officer Olagunju. “I remember when I first met you I said young people like yourself can be leaders. You have the influence. Use that in a positive way. Just continue on the way you’re going and the sky’s the limit for you.”
“It’s an honor that we got to be involved in your life. I mean that sincerely and I think that’s the good part of what we do is actually having hands on help towards all the energy and time with the community,” added Assemblywoman Pheffer Amato.
In addition to the recognition and the award, Reliford Jr. was also awarded a $1,000.00 scholarship. To our Explorer, congratulations and godspeed on your academic endeavors!
- (From left to right) Assemblywoman Amato, Andre Reliford. Jr., Officer Keith Richardson, and Officer Helen Olagunju.
- Certificate awarded to Andre
Photos by Brienne Kenlock
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Congratulations To Andre Reliford Jr.! | The Wave - Wave of Long Island
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