Everyday AZ Tow Hero

Round of applause to Jeff Dunn, general manager at All-City Towing, for helping out! Here's the story from azcentral.com:

Thirty children from Sunshine Acres get to see the Arizona Diamondbacks play on Kid's Day this year, thanks to a local company that bought their tickets.

The Mesa Police Honor Guard is selling tickets to the July 25 game against the San Francisco Giants for a fundraiser commemorating Law Enforcement Day and All-City Towing purchased tickets for Sunshine Acres Children's Home to use.

Because the game is on Kid's Day at the stadium, children that attend are allowed to run the bases and see a performance by The Wiggles after the game. The first 5,000 kids that show up to the game receive a Diamondbacks backpack. and Sunshine Acres CEO and President Carol Whitworth said they will have to show up early for that.

The Mesa Police Honor Guard is a non-profit organization and earns most of its money from fundraisers that are held to get the officers uniforms and keep the organization running.

Barbara McReynolds, a spokeswoman for the Mesa Police Honor Guard, organized the Diamondbacks fundraiser and sought out a company that would buy tickets for the children.

"I thought if someone could buy those kids a ticket, then they could go to the game," McReynolds said.

That's when she contacted Jeff Dunn, general manager at All-City Towing, and asked if he'd be interested in purchasing tickets for the children in the lower level bleachers of Chase Stadium. Dunn donated $450 for 30 children to go to the game. Although 60 children and teenagers live at the home, many of them will attend a camp the week of the game.

"We've had a long standing relationship with Mesa and a proven record of doing things in the community that helps people that are much less fortunate than us and we're a contractor that's trying to raise the bar in our industry and this is just one function of doing so," Dunn said. "We always donate to anything that Mesa Public Safety Foundation is involved with. Our job is public safety and we work really closely with the police and fire departments so it's just kind of a natural fit for us."

Dunn and Whitworth presented the children their tickets at an event outside Sunshine Acres Monday. The kids stood on the bed of a freshly washed All-City Towing truck as Dunn handed Whitworth a giant check.

Sunshine Acres Children's Home is a 109-acre long-term home for children and teens come from families who are unable to provide care for a variety of reasons. Some of them came from families who were homeless or incarcerated and the children had nowhere else to go. The children and staff who live at the home reside in seven newly renovated and built homes. Sunshine Acres is funded by private donations, estates and corporate gifts. It is located at 3405 North Higley Road in Mesa.

The Mesa Police Honor Guard hopes to sell 450 tickets for the game and earn $2,200 for the organization, McReynolds said. Anyone interested in buying tickets can fill out and send an order form to the Honor Guard by July 9. Order forms can be found at www.mesaaz.gov/police/honor_guard/.

"I think the kids will have fun," McReynolds said.

"Oh they, will. They will," Whitworth said.