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PORTSMOUTH, NH — Police Detective Rochelle Jones has made 12 donations of $200 each to local charitable groups, donating her entire COVID-19 first responder stipend.
Gov. Chris Sununu announced the stipends for first responders in May, paying full-time police, fire, corrections and emergency medical technicians $300 a week for two months, in addition to their regular pay. Part-timers were paid an additional $150 a week and funding is from the federal CARES Act.
Jones said she received payment this week and made online donations to 11 local charities and sent a check to a 12th that doesn’t have an online donation mechanism. She said she chose some of the beneficiaries because “they’re close to my heart” and others based on suggestions from the public.
Her donations of $200 each went to an emergency relief fund established by Jocelyn Toffic for Portsmouth restaurant workers, the Seacoast Repertory Theatre, Families First, Red’s Good Vibes, Operation Blessing, Seacoast Pathways, the Clipper Strong Foundation, the NAACP Seacoast chapter, Salvation Army of Greater Seacoast, Gather food pantry, Haven and Safe Harbor Recovery.
“It’s not that I can’t use it or don’t need it, but I can get by without it,” Jones said in May when she first discussed her plans to donate the stipends. “If it means someone goes with, instead of without, then that’s a no-brainer. I’m able to pay my bills, I don’t have kids to support and I am still employed…”
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