Virginia State Police trainees mannequin challenge benefits those in need

The 55 members of the Virginia State Police Academy are taking a stand – literally- against hunger in local communities across the nation.

On Monday (Nov. 20), the 125^th Basic Session took their food drive to the next level by producing a “mannequin challenge” video at the state police Academy in North Chesterfield County.

The trooper-trainees were already purchasing food to donate to local food banks and churches within the Blackstone, Va., and Metro-Richmond communities in time for Thanksgiving, when they came up with the idea to go global. With the help of Virginia State Police Superintendent, Colonel W. Steven Flaherty, and Academy staff, the 125^th Basic Session has issued a “food drive mannequin challenge” to Tennessee Highway Patrol Academy Class #1216 and Michigan State Police 131st and 132nd Trooper Recruit Classes.

“Since our jobs as troopers are not only to enforce the laws of the Commonwealth, but also to be community caretakers, we decided to ‘pay it forward’ by helping our communities by providing them with all the trimmings of a full Thanksgiving meal,” said Virginia State Police 125^th Basic Session President, Trooper-Trainee T.C. Fairburn. “So with the current trend of mannequin challenges, our class thought producing our own video would be a fun and productive way to get the word out there to truly help others in need. Hopefully this idea will go viral with state police and highway patrol academy classes, nationwide, taking the challenge and helping give back this holiday season to the very communities we will serve and protect once we graduate from our respective academies.”

This is the first time the Virginia State Police has ever produced a video “challenge.” The VSP mannequin challenge is 2 minutes and 42 seconds long, and available on the VSP YouTube channel at youtu.be/6KACfdUixWk. The 125th Basic Session began their 29-week Academy in August 2016 and graduate in March 2017.