Cedar Falls Public Safety Helping Celebrate Student Birthdays

From the City of Cedar Falls:

April 2, 2020

Cedar Falls Public Safety is helping local elementary students enjoy a special birthday celebration even as schools remain closed to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Beginning April 1 through June 1, the Public Safety team is encouraging families with children 12 and under to contact them to set up a birthday drive-by of the fire truck and police cruiser. Public Safety personnel will be practicing social distancing during the rides by remaining in the vehicles and encouraging all individuals who may be watching to continue to follow CDC guidelines by putting six feet between them and their neighbors.

The Public Safety team looks forward to the drive-by birthdays as a way to continue to connect with the community during the COVID-19 emergency. They had reached out to other agencies in the surrounding areas that were participating in the program to learn more about the unity it brought to their local neighborhoods.

“It is about providing a bright spot for students during an unprecedented time,” said Cedar Falls Public Safety Captain Tim Smith. “They are dealing with a lot of information regarding the virus and how it has disrupted the normal routine. With the importance of social distancing, things like birthday parties are not possible in the traditional sense. We wanted to make sure they still got a chance to celebrate.”

To request a drive-by birthday party, contact Cedar Falls Public Safety on Facebook through Messenger @cedarfallspublicsafety. Please include the date of the birthday in the message and a phone number. Public Safety asks that the day requested for the drive-by birthday be within five days of the child’s actual birthday. Scheduling is contingent on emergency calls, work, and training.

This press release was produced by the City of Cedar Falls. The views expressed here are the author’s own.