Meet Arizona Hometown Hero Fernando Gonzales
Fernando Gonzales is one of Arizona's first Hometown Heroes. In addition to speaking up in support of increased funding for the Tucson Police Department in a Tucson City Council meeting last year, Gonzales has attended nearly every Our America grassroots event. He is also a well-known community leader and associate pastor at Maranatha Church. He spoke with Our America's National Director Gabriel Gonzales and shared an inspiring story of why he is such a staunch defender of our men and women in blue.
My father was in and out of the home a lot of times. So basically, we were raised by a single mom, and one evening, around 10 o’clock at night, there was a loud knock on the door, and when my mom opened the door, this officer, I still remember him: he was tall, he was blonde, with wavy hair, blue eyes, and he put a badge in front of my mom’s face and a paper, which my mom didn’t know at that time, but it was an arrest warrant for my father.
He asked very politely to come in and make sure, because my mom said he’s not here, and he asked very politely to go in and check. And so he did. He walked through our whole house and checked out all the rooms and then he took off.
An hour later, there was another knock on the door. We were frazzled. We were scared. My brothers and sisters were small. When my mom opened the door, instead of him putting that badge in front of her, he gave her a bag of groceries.
I still get emotional. He went to the car and got another bag. And then soon us kids, we went to his car, and we were loading all kinds of groceries, from a man who had actually come to arrest my father.
That really shaped my life. It shaped my life to the point that I needed to help other people. That’s the reason why when Paul [Parisi, Our America‘s Arizona Grassroots Director] told me about Our America, I thought, “What a wonderful organization.” It just fits like a glove to me, because I felt that our police force needed to be supported.
They needed to be budgeted correctly, and even raise the budget for them, because we’re having issues here. They’re not able to respond to a lot of the crimes. They’re not able to respond to many the issues that are happening in our community, because we don’t have the manpower. And so I appreciate Our America.
I appreciate that you are supporting the men and women in blue.
Our America is the nation’s premier non-partisan organization dedicated to building a broad, diverse coalition of people who support the timeless American values that empower everyone to thrive, including: equal opportunity, mutual respect and freedom of expression.
Become a Hometown Hero and join volunteers from all walks of life who want to fight for the American Dream and counter the overly-partisan, divisive groups who have made attaining the American Dream impossible.
The Hometown Heroes Activist Network is completely FREE and we are seeking something more valuable than your money – we are seeking your time. Rest assured that the time commitment involved will be minimal, but the dividends of your active participation will be immense.
As a Hometown Hero activist, Our America will equip you with the necessary resources to uplift your community and change the national dialogue.
