When her husband died of a heart attack in 2014, Donna Smith Stafford knew she wanted to donate money in his memory to help the Woodbury Public Safety Department.

Bruce Stafford served as a firefighter in Woodbury for 22 years, retiring as fire chief. He also was a paramedic for 35 years with HealthEast and served in the Minnesota National Guard.

“When he passed away, Woodbury Public Safety was amazing to me,” Stafford said. “I mean, they cut my grass for two years. They parked a squad outside my house during the visitation and funeral to make sure my home was safe. It was always, ‘What do you need?’ They were so loving and caring to me. It’s, like, how do you say thank you?”

The idea came to Stafford one day as she was sitting in her office and looking out the window.

“I never know what people believe in, but it literally came to me from above,” she said. “I felt a light tap on my shoulder, and then I heard Bruce saying, ‘Dog.’”

Stafford called then-Woodbury Director of Public Safety Lee Vague and said she wanted to donate a K-9 to the city and take care of the first year’s expenses — a $20,000 donation.

“After his jaw dropped, we got it all together, and we donated Roguen,” she said. He joined Baden, Nova and Bosco in Woodbury Public Safety’s K-9 unit.

Stafford didn’t stop after one year.

She started an annual fundraising effort — called Koins for K-9s — that runs for one month each year. It starts on Nov. 20, the anniversary of Bruce Stafford’s death.

Fund for K-9s through their lives

More than 75 Koins for K-9s boxes have been placed at businesses throughout Woodbury, and people are asked to drop coins and dollar bills in them. There also is a QR code on the boxes’ signs for people who want to donate online.

A Koins for K-9s box at the Woodbury Culver’s on Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2023. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

The money raised by Koins for K-9s — more than $105,000 to date — has helped pay for six K-9s and a community-service therapy dog, Stafford said.

The fund — officially known as the Woodbury Police K9 Fund — allows the K-9s and their handlers to attend specialized training seminars around the country.

The fund is unique in that it also provides a “retirement account” to cover costs related to emergency medical expenses and other costs for retired K-9s. Most retired K-9s remain with their handlers and become household pets, she said, and their medical care can be expensive.

“We stay in touch with the retired officers, so we know what the dogs have coming, and all they have to do is ask, and we’ll take care of it,” Stafford said.

Adding a K-9 officer to the department costs between $16,000 and $18,000. The presence of a police K-9 can act as a deterrent to any further escalation of physical violence or resistance from a suspect, law enforcement says.

“They’ve been able to use the dog’s barks and the threat of the dog coming in to deescalate the situation,” Stafford said.

K-9 officers visit every fifth-grade classroom in Woodbury each year, and handlers explain how the dogs “do more than chase and bite,” she said. “They’ll explain that they don’t have to be afraid.”

Her path to giving back

Stafford grew up in St. Paul. Her parents, Richard and Geraldine Smith, taught her the importance of community service and giving back. Both were involved at St. Columba Catholic Church and the Church of St. Mark. Richard Smith served on the Hamline-Midway community council, and Geraldine Smith was a longtime Girl Scouts leader.

“If anybody was in need, my mom always gave,” Stafford said. “She’s 95, and she still does.”

Donna Smith Stafford pets Echo, left, and Kane, K-9s with the Woodbury Police Department, on Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2023. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

Stafford graduated from Our Lady of Peace High School in St. Paul in 1970. She studied business and accounting at Globe Business College in St. Paul for two years and then studied humanities at the University of Minnesota for a year.

From 1975 to 1980, she worked as the appointments coordinator for Gov. Rudy Perpich. She later worked in real estate and as a credentialing coordinator for HealthEast.

She moved to Woodbury in 1984 after she got sober, she said. She met Bruce Stafford at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting at Woodbury Lutheran Church.

The couple started dating in 1996 and married in 2000.

Donna Stafford is a “fixture of this community,” Woodbury City Council member Steve Morris said. During a recent event for new Woodbury residents, held at the M Health Fairview Sports Center, Stafford worked at three different booths — Koins for K-9s, the Woodbury Lions Club and the Woodbury Heritage Society.

“That’s just Donna,” Morris said. “She has a long history with public safety here — as the whole family does. It’s just a perfect little marriage.”

Making the K-9 unit a reality

The Woodbury Police K9 Fund helps make the city’s K-9 unit a reality, said Morris, who serves on the organization’s board of directors.

“We would struggle to find funding for programs like this,” Morris said. “Not having to really, essentially, worry about this group is a huge relief for the city. It’s a huge partnership.”

The fund recently paid for a dog crate at the HERO Training Center in Cottage Grove, Morris said.

“Officers have to wash out their squad car, but they need a place to put the dog while they are washing the car,” he said. “It’s smaller stuff like that, but it’s also the big stuff. I mean, these dogs are expensive, the training is extensive. The city will take the officer off the street, but the squad car, equipment, canine equipment, extra equipment, that’s not standard as part of the public safety budget. That all adds up very quickly.”

Woodbury Director of Public Safety Jason Posel was a sergeant with the department and a trainer for the K-9 program when Stafford started the Woodbury Police K9 Fund.

“Donna has been a force of nature,” he said.

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The K-9 unit includes both male and female dogs. The dogs, which include German shepherds, Dutch shepherds and Belgian Malinois, have come from the Netherlands, Poland, the Czech Republic and Germany. Most are a year old when they join the force.

“We’re looking for social dogs, dogs who really like to learn and play games,” Posel said. “We teach them through positive reinforcement. We are looking for dogs that have the drive to chase after balls and who enjoy working for food. We have a testing process that we do with them to make sure that they are going to be a suitable candidate for this type of work.”

Posel was K-9 Baden’s handler from 2014 to 2019. One of Baden’s last service calls involved a domestic situation potentially involving a weapon.

“A father had taken his kids and had fled into a field,” Posel said. “There was a search that was taking place, and we were really concerned about the kids, and we ended up getting Baden out and ended up doing a search through the area. He was able to locate the father and the kids. … But for having the dog there, I don’t know if we would have found them, and we certainly wouldn’t have found them as quickly as we did.”

The fund supports ongoing training and pays for a couple of handlers each year to attend out-of-state training that they otherwise might not have been able to attend.

Baden now lives with Posel and his family at their house. When Baden had to have emergency surgery in October 2020 because of an obstruction in his digestive system, the Woodbury Police K9 Fund handled all of his medical expenses.

“These dogs are athletes, and oftentimes the wear and tear of the work and the training that they do can take its toll,” Posel said. “The fund helps support some of those costs to ease the burden on the handler.”

Stafford also came up with the idea to set aside money for end-of-life costs for the dogs, including an engraved burial box.

Donna Smith Stafford, left, exchanges an empty Koins for K-9s collection box for a full one with Pepper Depew, assistant manager at the Woodbury Culver’s, on Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2023. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

Community events all year long

The Koins for K-9 fundraiser officially runs through Dec. 20, but Culver’s in Woodbury keeps the box up all year long. “People like to support it,” said Pepper Depew, the restaurant’s assistant manager. “The box is always full. I mean, the city of Woodbury is just amazing with the donations. The little kids always ask the parents for coins or a dollar to put in the box.”

Depew said she loves when the officers bring the K-9s to Culver’s to meet the employees.

Stafford comes by once a month to exchange the box at Culver’s; she takes the full box to Spire Credit Union in Woodbury to be counted.

“Just about every time I pick up a box, and let’s say it’s 10 times a year, there’s always at least $100 to $120 in there,” she said.

In addition to the Koins for K-9s boxes, the Woodbury Police K9 Fund holds a “Photos with Santa” fundraiser at Pet Evolution in Woodbury — this year’s event is Dec. 3 — and an annual K-9 carnival at 3rd Act Craft Brewery. They also hold several K-9 trivia nights each year.

“The cool part of this whole program is that the community supports the program and then the program supports the community,” Posel said. “It’s been awesome for this program — and the city.”

Stafford said she is happy to have the opportunity to give back to Woodbury.

“It’s all about giving back what we have been given,” she said. “For me, it’s personal. Every time I put out a box, I think of Bruce. I loved that man so much.”

How to give

Koins for K-9s boxes will be located at more than 90 supporting businesses in Woodbury from Monday through Dec. 20.

Donations also are accepted online at woodburyk9fund.org.

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