For the past few years, former Linden resident, Clinton L. Kelley, Sr., 59, fell on some hard times and was living on the streets of downtown Linden.
The Police Department has had numerous interactions with him, sometimes arresting him for quality of life offenses, or transporting him to local hospitals for substance abuse.
So when Linden Juvenile Bureau Detective Joseph J. Birch, who is also the president of PBA Local # 42, heard that a Facebook page was trying to raise money for Kelley for transportation costs to North Carolina so he could be reunited with his daughter and see his grandchildren for the first time, he said, “Why Not?”
The PBA President had been discussing the idea with the Linden FMBA (Firefighter’s Mutual Benevolent Association) President and between both delivered a check for the balance of the cost of a train ticket to North Carolina.