Human Interest Kansas City Police Raise Money for Laid-Off Mom After She Donates Lottery Winnings to Injured Cop Kansas City police officers have raised more than $55,000 for Shetara Sims and her family By Rachel DeSantis Published on July 22, 2020 01:42 PM Share Tweet Pin Email Shetara Sims meets with Kansas City police officers. Single mom Shetara Sims recently lost her job and has been struggling with her bills — but when she came upon a winning lottery ticket, she didn’t think twice about donating the money to a good cause. Sims wanted to give the money to a Kansas City police officer who’d been shot in the line of duty – and now, thanks to her selfless gesture, the officer’s colleagues have helped raise more than $55,000 to help Sims in her own time of need. Sims knows what it’s like to have to lean on law enforcement; in 2012, her 19-year-old daughter Karyia was killed in Kansas City. “[Sims] said the detectives who worked her daughter’s case were like her therapists, fathers, and lifelines all in one,” the Kansas City Police Department said in a Facebook post. When she heard a cop had been shot in the head on July 2 and critically injured, she called the department to see how she could help donate money to his family. The department said that during the phone call, Sims explained that she’d recently been laid off due to COVID-19 and has been struggling to pay her bills. She said that she went to the grocery store last week and found a $1 bill in the parking lot, which she used to buy a scratch-off lottery ticket. The ticket wound up being a $100 winner, but Sims’ young daughter Rakiya had an idea for what to do with that money. RELATED VIDEO: Taylor Swift Gives Money to Fans Fundraising for Church Donating Products to People of Color “Her 12-year-old daughter was with her and said, ‘Mom, we should give that to the police officer who got shot,’” the post read. “She agreed immediately. With her current financial hardships, we urged her to keep the money. She refused, saying the officer’s family needed it, and police needed to know they were supported.” The comments section of the Facebook post was quickly flooded with praise for Sims, and many people asked for her name so they could help get her through her financial hardships. NBA Star Jrue Holiday to Donate All of His Remaining Game Checks to Social Justice Initiatives Though the police department said she’d called with an unlisted number, they eventually tracked her down and were able to start the GoFundMe, which they titled: “Helping the Woman with a Heart of Gold.” “She agreed to have a fund set up for her. Even still, when we tracked her down, she said, ‘Doesn’t the officer’s family need it more than me?’ She’s got a heart of gold,” the police department wrote. 11-Year-Old Boy Mows Lawns to Raise Money for Black Lives Matter: ‘I Decided to Make a Change’ Sims and her family stopped by to visit with the injured officer’s colleagues on Tuesday. The department has also launched a donation page for the cop, identified only as Officer T., which has raised more than $7,000. As of last week, he was still in the ICU, but had been upgraded from critical to stable condition, and was no longer intubated, police said.