APPLETON (NBC 26) — People all around the world celebrated International Women’s Day with art, demonstrations, and conferences, including one in Appleton.
The Appleton Police Department hosted the second annual Women in Public Safety Day.
“We’ve brought in mentors from a lot of the local agencies: police, fire, EMS, legal services, pretty much any support role potentially in law enforcement,” said Megan Cash, the Appleton Police Department community resource lieutenant.
The goal was to instill in young women that they too can have a career in public safety.
“These are jobs that they can do, and oftentimes they don’t think it’s a job that they can,” said Cash.
Megan Cash shared that she once felt that way too.
“When I was a little girl, nobody ever told me that this was a job I could do,” said Cash.
She said that it wasn’t until college that she considered this as a real career option for herself.
“So now with my five-year-old daughter, I look at her every single day and tell her “You can do anything you possibly want to do, you just have to have the hard work and determination and find the people that will help you get there,” said Cash.
Today’s event was a way for young women to do that.
Julie Keller is the executive director of the Women’s Fund for the Fox Valley. She spoke about giving back to your community but doing it with passion and purpose.
“We talk a lot about you can’t be what you can’t see, and if you don’t see a lot of women in policing or public service you may not even think about it as a career, so we want to break that down,” said Keller.
Keller's overall message:
“That they can do anything that they really want to do. So, if public safety is really their dream, then they can do that.”
