A dedicated Garfield police officer and her family lost their home in a fire last week.

Officer Rebecca Schmidt's parents' home went up in flames along with everything she owned, including her service weapon, her uniforms and the family's cat. Whenever people lose a home in a fire, it is devastating. Fortunately there is a way we can all help,

A Venmo account has been set up for Officer Schmidt and her family in the name GarfieldPBA-FoundationINC. According to fellow officers in Garfield, Schmidt started her public service as a teenager volunteering as and EMT and spent countless hours volunteering in community service programs in the town.

Police officers are going through a tough enough time these days, and a tragedy like this is beyond devastating. So anything we can do to help Officer Schmidt and her family will be a great show of support for our police and her family. Let Officer Schmidt and her fellow officers how much we value their service.

Fourteen departments from surrounding towns assisted in fighting the fire, and 10 people from three other families were also affected by the fire.

A Facebook fundraiser was also set up for the Colon family, which also suffered great losses in the blaze. As the weather gets colder the danger for house fires in New Jersey will increase. It helps to be careful and it will also help a lot to be charitable to these families who've lost so much.

Let Officer Schmidt and her fellow officers how much we value their service.

The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Dennis Malloy. Any opinions expressed are Dennis' own.

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