Seaun Richards of the Red Onion awarded Police Chief’s Citation

At last week’s city council meeting, Seaun Richards, the owner of the Red Onion, was recognized for his contribution to the “shop with a cop” program during this past holiday season.

Police Chief Gregory Wilson said a few words about how the “shop with a cop” event came to be before presenting Seaun Richards with a plaque, awarding him the “Police Chief’s Citation.”

Richards had called the police chief wanting to contribute something to the community. Richards has had restaurants in other nearby communities, including Edmonds, and has always given something back during the holidays. The two had several conversations about the Red Onion possibly donating food to help those in need. Richards ended up seeing something on TV about the Seattle Police Department’s shop with a cop program and ultimately decided he would like to do something similar in Mountlake Terrace.

In just around a week, Richards and the Red Onion raised around $1,600 in donations. The police department, through their domestic violence services unit, identified 26 needy kids in the community and each of them were provided a $50 gift certificate to Fred Meyer. Mountlake Terrace police officers then went shopping with the kids at Fred Meyer in Lynnwood.

Chief Wilson said it was wonderful taking the kids around the store, picking out different items that they wanted to buy with the certificates.

Following the shopping event, Seaun invited all the kids and their families back to the Red Onion where he provided them a meal as well as an additional meal to take home.

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