For Irvine teenagers interested in law enforcement, the city’s Police Explorer program offers a chance to volunteer alongside officers, assist at community events and learn firsthand how policing works in America’s safest large city.
Now, thanks to a youth-led fundraising effort, those volunteers have a new way to get there.
Irvine students and community supporters raised about $100,000 to donate a Ford Transit van to the Irvine Police Department’s Explorer program. The vehicle, which can carry 14 passengers, will transport Explorers to training events, competitions and community service activities across Orange County.
Dozens of family members, friends and city officials gathered at Irvine Civic Center to celebrate the donation.
“This demonstrates the amazing partnership that we have with our community,” Irvine police spokesperson Kyle Oldoerp said.
The effort was led by 17-year-old twins David and Daniel Zhang, members of the Explorer program who are both headed to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.
The brothers first became interested in the program after learning about it from an Irvine police officer during the D.A.R.E. program at Stonegate Elementary School. They joined the Explorer program as freshmen in high school.
“We get to meet other explorers and officers, especially on ride-alongs,” David says. “We get to talk with them, get to know them, learn more about the city.”
Until now, the Explorer program did not have its own dedicated vehicle. Over three years, the Zhang brothers reached out to several organizations to help fund the van, including the Boya Foundation, U.S. Leader Group and the Chinese University Alumni Association Alliance of Southern California.
Bella Liu, an eighth grader at Vista Verde K-8 School, is president of the U.S. Leader Group. The nonprofit held two charity sales to raise several thousand dollars for the van.
“I feel really safe in Irvine because the Police Department does its job really, really well,” Liu says.
