Florida boy turns simple gesture into nationwide quest

WASILLA — Two years ago in Bratt, Florida, a simple gesture turned into a nationwide quest that found Tyler Karach and his mother Sheena traveling to Wasilla on Tuesday to visit with and thank the officers of the Wasilla Police Department.

“Everyone that puts this uniform on struggles with the public’s reflection of what law enforcement is and how we impact the community. It means a lot to me. It means a lot to, I’m sure, the entire department, and it’s important for people of our community to see. Everyone here who got into this job got into it to help the public and to serve, and we’re happy to do it. We’re appreciative of someone who’s going to commit so much to recognizing the work that we do,” said Officer Michael Lopez with the WPD.

Wasilla Police posed for a picture with Karach on a WPD motorcycle wearing a cape that reads, “I Donut Need A Reason To Thank A Cop.”

The mission that started at a grocery store in Bratt, Florida, has brought Tyler and Sheena to 36 states already, some twice.

“Police officers risk their lives for strangers every single day,” said Tyler. “They’re my best friends and my heroes.”

Tyler has handed out more than 70,000 doughnuts nationwide. Donations from friends, family members, and doughnut shops have helped keep the campaign going for two years. Tyler’s original idea was to thank every police officer in the country. His mother didn’t say no, but told him that they should start locally and see where they could end up. As they flew across the country on a plane from Florida to Oregon, Tyler realized that his quest to thank police officers had taken him across the country. Tyler attends a charter school that goes out of their way to send Tyler with his school work so that he does not fall behind.

“When I started to leave I asked my mom why were they so happy with their snack? And she said it wasn’t the snack it was because you took the time to say thank you,” said Tyler.

Tyler wants to be an officer with a K-9 partner when he grows up. Tyler did not get to meet the Wasilla K-9 officer, but spent time with one with the Alaska State Troopers.

Sheena is months away from establishing the charity as a nonprofit, making it easier to raise money for Tyler’s effort to thank cops all across the nation.

In March, Tyler’s appendix burst while he was spending time with the Los Angeles Police Department in California. His health worsened as he was flown back to the east coast to his hometown, and he almost became septic, Sheena said. While he was in the hospital, dozens of uniformed officers visited Tyler to check on him, and thousands of emails, letters, text messages and phone calls came in wishing Tyler good luck from Police around the country.

“The support was amazing. He’s part of a very amazing family, the blue family. It’s a very, very strong family to be a part of,” said Sheena.

Tyler not only buys doughnuts for officers, but will talk with and play games with them. He spent most of his time inside WPD on Tuesday playing hangman with one officer at his desk. He hopes to visit the other 14 states left on his list

“Just to keep bridging that gap between civilians and police officers, especially youth and police officers, just to make that positivity between them again,” said Sheena.

“It’s not everyday that we have something like this where someone wants to recognize us,” Lopez said.