“I think it’s kinda cool to be getting a grant from Ben Roethlisberger. I want to thank the foundation and everyone else for their support. I am grateful for everything that we get to help keep this program going.” — Officer George Grippo, Mt. Pleasant Police K9 handler.



From an article by Marilyn Forbes in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review this afternoon:

Pittsburgh Steeler Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has thousands of fans and he just got one more — a four-legged one.

The Mt. Pleasant Police Department’s K-9 officer, Gerro and handler Officer George Grippo have been awarded a grant from the Ben Roethlisberger Foundation.

“I heard about this last year through the sheriff’s office but it was already too late to apply. I missed the deadline,” Grippo said. “I filled out the paperwork and then she called me about two weeks to tell me I was approved. I wasn’t allowed to leave the cat out of the bag until she issued a press release but I was really excited that we had been approved.”

Grippo has been in the process of trying to raise funding to purchase a newer SUV for him and Gerro and partial proceeds from the money that he is receiving from the foundation will go toward purchasing cage that will be specially fit for the vehicle.


You can read more from Ms. Forbes column on the grant here.

You can learn more about Ben’s Foundation here.