Cookeville Human Fund Offers Help To Those In Need

The Putnam County Commission has recognized a Cookeville Police officer for his efforts to help those in need.

Officer Marc deClaire launched the Cookeville Human Fund on August 1. He said donations to the informal charity provide assistance to those in dire circumstances.

“I got tired of walking away from certain instance where it could have been very easily fixed. A tank of gas or a car broken down,” deClaire said. “So, what do you do? You say ‘good luck’ and you go on your merry way? My approach is a little bit different. If you see these people out on the street and they’re panhandling, why not find out what the underlying cause of the panhandling is?”

deClaire has used the fund to provide bikes to the homeless and hotel stays for people needing a place to sleep. deClaire recently used the Cookeville Human Fund to purchase seizure medication  for a woman who couldn’t afford it.

“We’ve helped several people that were sleeping in their cars, and were out here begging the public for assistance,” de Claire said. “Why not cut it off at the root? If we can respond to it and fix it, why not do that instead of walking away?”

deClaire said not everyone can be helped, but most situations he runs into can be easily fixed by offering some help.

“There are going to be people that we cannot help. They’re going to be suffering from a mental illness or whatever,” de Claire said. “But there are certain people that don’t have a lot of money and they’re traveling through the state or to another state and they run out of gas or have a car issue that can be easily fixed. We can actually move them along their way and they’re not homeless, or temporarily homeless here.”

The Putnam County Commission named deClaire Citizen of the Month during the September meeting. You can make a donation to deClaire’s charity by visiting the Cookeville Human Fund Facebook page.