A local teen raised $1,585 to outfit a Pocatello K-9 police dog with a bulletproof vest.
Nathan Brown, 13, recently presented the money for the vest to Bannock County Sheriff Lorin Nielsen at the Bannock County Commissioners Office.
The dog, named Jintox, is handled by Bannock County Sheriff’s Deputy Mike Jons. Brown was able to watch Jintox train for drug detection and criminal apprehension, which left him impressed.
It took Brown three weeks to raise enough funds for the project that was a part of his class at Connor Academy Public Charter School.
The eighth-grader had never ran a fundraising project like this before.
He said the process was challenging at the start before receiving assistance from his father Steven Brown, a Bannock County commissioner.
“It didn’t seem to be going very far,” Nathan said. “Before my dad started reaching out to his friends, I didn’t really know if I was going to make it.”
Money was raised on mightycause.com, a fundraising platform similar to the well-known gofundme.com.
Nathan said he was “astonished” when the funds started to pile up.
“It told me there’s still a lot of good people out there in the world and it’s not as bad as it’s made out to be,” Nathan said.