By State Attorney Suzy Lopez
When you work at the state attorney’s office, serving the community is part of your job description. But most people associate that service with what happens inside a courtroom. Recently, our team had the opportunity to serve Hillsborough County in a different way.
We held our first-ever State Attorney’s Office Day of Service, giving employees the chance to step away from their daily responsibilities and volunteer with organizations that help our neighbors through some of life’s most difficult challenges.
Our team spent the day volunteering at Feeding Tampa Bay, Metropolitan Ministries and the Hillsborough County Pet Resource Center. While these organizations have different missions, they share a commitment to helping people facing difficult circumstances.
What made the day especially valuable wasn’t just the opportunity to lend a hand. It was the chance to learn more about the challenges people in our community face and the resources available to help them.
For example, many people know the Pet Resource Center as the county animal shelter. But our volunteers learned that its work goes far beyond caring for homeless animals.
The center offers resources designed to keep pets with the families who love them. Through its community pet pantry, vaccination clinics and a special program for owners considering surrendering their pets, the center helps families find solutions during difficult times. We even got to help them prepare for their vaccination clinic, which was set to help hundreds of families over just one weekend. It’s just one example of how much important work is happening in our community that many of us may never see.
As prosecutors, we encounter people from all walks of life, often during some of their most difficult moments. While our primary responsibility is to hold offenders accountable and protect public safety, understanding the challenges people face outside the courtroom makes us better at serving them. That’s what I hoped our team would take away from this experience.
Our first Day of Service was about more than donating a few hours of our time. It was an opportunity to strengthen our connections with the community and remind ourselves why public service matters so much.
I’m proud of our team for embracing this opportunity, and I hope this becomes a tradition at our office for years to come. Because serving Hillsborough County doesn’t begin or end at the courthouse doors.
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