After Dotty McDonald logged some 2,000 hours as a volunteer with the Newport Beach Police Department, many on late-night ride-alongs in a patrol car, she noticed that officers frequently had little time to grab a meal while on the clock.
So McDonald, now 94 years old, made it her mission to keep them fed.
McDonald got to know the officers well, volunteering with the police force after she became a widow in 2015. In addition to ride alongs, she’s helped surveil houses left empty while the owners were out of town and assisted in comparing pawn shop inventories with reports of stolen items.
A major back surgery in 2020 forced her to step back, but she still wanted to help the department. Police Chief Joe Cartwright was more than happy to oblige, declaring her the department’s “No. 1 ambassador,” McDonald recalled proudly.
That was when she decided to help “my officers” in a new way. “They’re so busy that they usually have to eat in their cars when they’re on duty,” she observed.
On Wednesday, July 31, she concluded her sixth year of fundraising by presenting Cartwright with $40,000 worth of gift cards to In-N-Out Burger, Chipotle, Chick-fil-A and Sgt. Pepperoni’s Pizza Store.
Holding a comically large check, McDonald appeared more like a loving grandmother tending to her brood than a corporate donor. And rather than extending formal handshakes and polite smiles, the officers shouted, “We love you!” and embraced McDonald, with several towering over her by at least a foot.
McDonald has been dogged in her fundraising pursuits over the years, joking, “Nobody is safe until they open their checkbooks.” But she’s realized how much the community is eager to help.
“I was at a restaurant, talking about collecting money …” McDonald said. “At the next table, this couple says, ‘Is this for the Newport Beach police officers? We’ll be glad to donate.’”
Working alongside police feels like a natural choice to McDonald. The retired nurse started her career in the emergency room at Lennox Hill Hospital in New York City, where she frequently encountered NYPD officers. They treated her as one of their own, she said.
It’s the same in Newport Beach.
“She adopted us as surrogate sons and grandsons, and we adopted her as a surrogate mom and grandma,” Police Sgt. Steve Oberon said.
McDonald has saved a photo taken of her and Det. Mike Fasano on the night of her first ride-along as her phone’s lock screen.
“We were only supposed to be with him for four hours,” McDonald recalled of that night. “I said, ‘Do I have to go home?’ He said, ‘No. Not if you don’t want to.’ “
She didn’t want to, so she stayed until Fasano’s shift ended at 3 a.m. She did the same during successive ride alongs and to this day, she joins an officer for a 7 p.m. to 3 a.m. ride along each week.
Bob McDonald, one of her sons who also lives in Newport Beach, said his mother simply “loves those cops.”
“One of my mom’s strengths is that she’s a great listener and brings a lot of wisdom,” Bob McDonald said. “During these ride alongs, these officers talk to her about their lives and she can give grandmotherly advice.”
McDonald, who will turn 95 on Aug. 13, gets invited to officers’ homes for meals and holidays and has even attended several weddings.
“Feeding the officers brings out Dotty’s maternal instinct to take care of people she really, truly cares about,” Police Lt. Brad Miller said. “She sees us as her children. And she loves to feed her kids.”
