By Ruth Ann Ruiz
The Post Newspaper Features Editor
She’s an energetic woman whose life story is one of fun and glory Well, I picked the word glory because it rhymes with story. But why not say glory? In 1982, she was on the cover of the Christmas issue of “Playboy,” and she resided in Hugh Hefner’s mansion along with his other favorite gal pals.
Marcy has a quick smile and eyes that glitter with delight as she chats about her life, both the life she has lived and the life she is living. She proudly talks of her family coming in with Jean Lafitte, the pirate known to have occupied Galveston.
“My great-great… granddaddy was a cabin boy for Jean Lafitte,” Marcy said.
If you do an internet search on Marcy, you will discover she was Playmate of the Month in the 1978 October “Playboy”. That particular issue was graced on its cover by none other than one of the queens of country music, Dolly Parton.
Marcy, being a descendant of a long line of Galvestonians, started her life on Galveston Island and returned to Galveston after she had given Hollywood a whirl. For a while she was the owner of the historic bed-and-breakfast on 17th and Post Office streets in Galveston.
“I had rescue bunnies on the property for my guests to snuggle with,” Marcy shared.
While she owned the bed-and-breakfast, she lived on the property and provided her guests with a true Southern Hospitality when they came to town which included rooms and accessories all designed to represent the Victorian era of the house. She shared with her guests the historic details of the town she loved.
Time marched on, and, as it did, the passing of time brought changes. Marcy sold her historic bed and breakfast and moved into a single-family home in Galveston. Her retirement began just about the time of the pandemic.
While sitting at home during the lockdown, Marcy felt led by God to write the next chapter in her life. She was dismayed as she watched the scenes on the news unfold with the barrage of hurt and anger towards law enforcement. The former Playmate and innkeeper knew she had to do something.
The news of police departments across the nation being disrespected spurred Marcy to take on the task of adopting local police officers. She marched herself down to the Galveston Police Department (GPD) and asked if she could adopt some police officers. Adopt some she did.
But she didn’t take them home. What she did was bring bags of goodies, send encouraging notes throughout the year, and pray for each of her officers. Her support was such a huge success, the department asked her to take on more officers, and so she did.
Time continued to march on, and Marcy’s role evolved into her becoming the chapter coordinator for Adopt-A-Cop, which is a national program. Other chapters in the nation focus on adopting officers with prayer and notes of encouragement — not Marcy’s chapter. Tangible gifts that boost their morale are part of what her chapter provides.
Marcy and her team of volunteers have adopted just about all of Galveston’s police officers. They provide the officers with year-round goodie bags, notes of encouragement and add the police officer and their families to their daily prayers.
The police officers return the kindness with thank-you notes. Throughout the year, neither the officer nor the person who is sending the gifts and notes knows who is on the receiving end. The year of support culminates at Christmastime with a dinner to honor the police officers and the community members who have adopted one or more officers.
Then the year starts anew with the adoptees being assigned to different community members.
Adopt-A-Cop has taken over Marcy’s life. She runs around town in a blouse with the official Adopt-A-Cop emblem, along with jeans. Everywhere she goes, she reports that she talks to people about the program. Her enthusiasm and drive to support local law enforcement has brought together 135 participants from around Galveston.
She instructs her team of volunteers to leave their goodie bags, which she calls gratitude bags, in a basket outside her home.
“I personally know each person who brings a gratitude bag,” Marcy shared.
She brings the bags inside and watches as they multiply in her living room until she has enough to make a run up to police headquarters. Usually, Marcy said, she makes a gratitude-bag run at least once a week.
“The people are very generous,” Marcy shared.
Front offices staff at GPD greet her at the door and assist her with carting in the bags of treats. From there, the staff makes sure the officers receive their specially prepared gratitude bags.
Officer Gardner, who has been with GPD for four years, was adopted by Becky, who prepared his bags with a variety of balsamic toppings. which he reports he thoroughly enjoyed. Becky smiled as they reminisced on their year of being connected by gratitude bags.
For Officer Gardner, it is more than the culinary delights that cause him to smile.
“It’s the thoughtfulness coming from outside of our circle of family and friends that’s very appreciated,” he shared.
Marcy worries a bit that maybe she is too old for the full-time task she has created for herself, though you wouldn’t think so from the vibrant spirit she radiates. For now, she continues to be the one GPD can count on to coordinate adopt-a-cop in Galveston.
If you are interested in learning more about how you can be involved in Adopt-a-Cop or if you would like to start a chapter in your town (the nearest one is in Kingwood) you can reach out to Marcy Hanson at marcy.hanson@att.net. You can also find the national program at https://www.adopt-a-cop.org/.
