Page 8 - Trooper Fall 2021

SPAM SAYS GOODBYE TO COMMUNITY RELATIONS MENTOR

She was the smile behind the scenes and the torch bearer of our union in the communities we police.
Many of you did not know her personally, but her efforts led to a greater trust and bond between the men
and women of the Massachusetts State Police and the citizens you are sworn to protect throughout the
Commonwealth.

Cathy Draine was born in Covington, Tennessee, a small town
in West Tennessee whose only claim to fame is the Charms
Blow Pop Factory. One of nine children, she entered foster care
at the age of twelve after the death of her grandfather left her
mother struggling to care for her children. She experienced the
shuffle between foster homes and group homes before attend-
ing a Catholic Boarding School, DeNueville Heights School for
Girls.

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She went on to graduate valedictorian from her high school, at-
tend undergraduate studies at Hollins University in Roanoke,
Virginia and completed a fellowship in Social Action/ Social Witness at the Quaker Institution/Commu-
nity, Pendle Hill in Wallingford, Pennsylvania. She completed two Masters Degrees, the first in Cultural
Production from Brandeis University, the second in Theatre Education – Theatre Community from Em-
erson College.
Her drive was to work in organizations seeking to change or revise the systems established to help the vul-
nerable where she could make changes at the policy and procedures level. She worked at various locations,
including the Boys and Girls Clubs in Philadelphia, PA and Fort Lauderdale, FL as well as the Children’s
Defense Funds Freedom Schools Summer Program in New Orleans, GA the summer after Hurricane
Katrina devastated the area. Her work with affordable housing brought her to Massachusetts and during
that time she led the nonprofit Neighborhood Network Center, Inc.
In 2014 she was working at the Children’s Defense Fund Freedom School Summer Program and Trooper
Dale Jenkins began volunteering there. Trooper Jenkins was committed to the success of the program and
got other troopers involved, eventually culminating in an A Troop event where 250 children and their
families had the opportunity to engage with members of the Massachusetts State Police. They went on to
do backpack events and a few holiday food and toy drives before Cathy was hired by SPAM as the Com-
munity Engagement and PAC Director in February of 2020.
Trooper Newsletter Page 7