Police officer uses own money to get a car for hardworking woman

LANSING, MI – For the last eight years, Jo Meade pedaled her bike each Sunday on a 16-mile round trip to her job washing dishes at the Cracker Barrel in Okemos. It took more than an hour each way.

Other days of the week she would spend two hours on three buses from her apartment at South Washington Park in Lansing to get to work, for a four-hour round trip.

That was the “before” part of her life.

The “after” part of her life was triggered by Lansing Police Officer Trevor Arnold.

On Tuesday, he delivered a 2007 Ford Taurus with the help of Kia of Lansing dealership and other donors.

“It had my heart racing. I didn’t expect it,” said Meade, who ended a dishwashing shift and got a lift from Arnold in a police car to the dealership for the surprise.

For the last 18 months, Arnold's been assigned as a community policing officer at the low-income housing complex. Meade has lived there since the Life O’Riley mobile home park closed in 2014.

Arnold, who spotted Meade, red and sweaty, riding her Panama Jack bike in the worst heat this summer, decided he would get her a car.

He intended to quietly buy her a used car out of his own pocket so he turned to his friend Kody Slaght, a salesman at Kia to inquire about a car priced up to $1,000.

That wasn’t enough for a reliable ride, Slaght said, but the dealership said they would find a good car for her at a good price. Soon others were donating, including a collection taken among Lansing City Council members, developer Brent Forsberg and Police Commissioner Patty Farhat.

The Mardigian Agency in St. Johns donated six months of car insurance, and the car was detailed by Spot-Les. It has 150,000 miles.

“It kind of grew legs and took off,” Arnold said.

Slaght and Arnold wouldn’t say how much the car cost, but the retail value is about $4,000.

Arnold said he was motivated by Meade’s work ethic to help.

“I see a lot of hardworking people but that’s when they are at work. Can you imagine spending four hours of your day getting to and from work?” he said.

Meade, 54, has worked at Cracker Barrel for 14 years.

“She’s awesome. She’s really reliable,” said her boss, General Manager Marie Williams. “She gets along with others. She’s willing to ride the three buses to get in here on her day off if we need her to.”

Meade said she sometimes had to pay for rides to and from work in the worst weather. She was planning to buy a car from a friend eight years ago when another driver ran a red light and totaled the vehicle.

"I wanted another one, but I haven't been able to afford it," she said. "Trevor, he is a very good guy. I did not expect this."

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