By BOB SHRALUKA
WZBD.com
If you didn’t get one of those lovable plush Koda police dogs, another opportunity is coming soon.
Bryan Lineberry, whose Bellmont High School business class came up with the fundraiser idea and promoted it, said Monday that more of the plush dogs have been ordered.
The first 100 were sold within three days, so another 250 have been ordered – with 157 of those already spoken for!
Proceeds from sales of the “plushies” directly benefit Koda, the Decatur Police Department’s K9 officer who spends his days at Bellmont with School Resource Officer (RSO) Andrew Elwell.
The dog, a three-year-old Golden Retriever, has become highly popular on the Bellmont campus.
The “plushies,” which wear a DPD vest and collar, sell for $20, but purchasers are urged to go a little – or a lot – higher as the funds provide food, equipment and ongoing training for Koda.
At a recent Decatur City Council meeting, Elwell said it costs approximately $90 a month to maintain Koda.
The new shipment of plush dogs is expected to arrive by the end of this week or next week, Lineberry said.
As before, they will probably be available at the school and the police station on Seventh St.
KOZY: The idea for the fundraiser was born in Lineberry’s Principles of Business Management class comprised of 18 students, mostly sophomores and a few seniors.
“I said we could do it as a business, market it, give it a name, sell it, etc. and they wanted to do it,” Lineberry recently told WZBD.com.
Elwell was all for it, as were police department officials and others, so the Kozy Koda fundraiser was born.
The police department paid $1,305 for the first 100 “plushies.”
Lineberry, who has been at BHS for 14 years, said his class is partnering with students in a marketing class.
The following website was built by the students: https://sites.google.com/view/kozykodak9/home
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