After a tense situation at Strath Haven High School was resolved earlier this month, Kimberly “Kimba” Nixon-Vaccone showed up at the Nether Providence Police Department with a container of Pepperidge Farm cookies.

Chief David Splain and Officers Steven Kilian, Michael Dolan, James Irey, and Kevin Smith spent most of the morning handling a call for a student “possibly with a handgun” in his backpack. The student was identified, and following a brief search of the school, police found his backpack in a classroom, and a replica handgun was confiscated, which resulted in charges filed in Juvenile Court.

“They had a rough morning,” Nixon-Vaccone said of the officers as she dropped off the goodies.

As a follower of department news on the CRIMEWATCH app, she said the student-involved incident was particularly upsetting as a mother whose two children attended local schools not too many years ago.

“It hit me in a personal way,” she said. “I really just wanted to do something for the officers to say, ‘Thank you.’”

That afternoon was not the first time she had reached out. Nixon-Vaccone has been providing a meal or desserts to the officers in recent months.

There were pizzas in September, an assortment of sweets and fruits in October, and a hoagie tray in November.

Nixon-Vaccone already phoned in her pizza order for her Christmas visit here tomorrow, Dec. 20, she said over the weekend. Whatever is on the menu for the dayside shift, she repeats for officers working overnight.

“If my little part helps to keep the guys who put their lives on the line every day going, it’s the least I can do,” she said.

A stylish brunette with purplish streaks, she is adorably tiny in stature but huge in her spiritual convictions. She is unceasingly thoughtful, energetic, and open-minded.

Her late father nicknamed her Kimba as a little girl, after “Kimba the White Lion,” the moral, brave, optimistic, and kind-hearted cub who grew to become king of the jungle.

“It just stuck,” she said, smiling.

Growing up on Stratford Road in Springfield, she is rooted in Delaware County. She attended Delco Christian School in Newtown Township through the ninth grade and graduated from The Christian Academy in Brookhaven.

After a year of caring for senior citizens as a nursing assistant at Harlee Manor, Nixon-Vaccone decided to enroll in a Practical Nursing Program in Chester. Looking back, she believes the death of her biological mother from lung cancer when she was only six played a role in her career choice.

Nixon-Vaccone worked in nursing homes and hospitals for several years before she returned to Delaware County Community College and completed the registered nursing program.

By then, she was married and settling into her first of two homes in Nether Providence Township.

“It’s such a wonderful community,” she said. “I really love it here.”

Nixon-Vaccone said she never really gave any serious thought to police and the work they do until she started working as an emergency room nurse at a hospital outside Delaware County.

“It was my first real chance to work closely and personally with them,” she said. “They got a tough job.”

Here in Nether Providence, she has had to call on officers over the years.

 “They have always been professional and supportive. They have been a comfort to me,” she said.

Though she is typically very private about it, she is always thinking of ways to pay forward kindnesses she has received in her life and ways to impact her community.

Retired from clinical nursing, Nixon-Vaccone continues caring for others. Whether she is volunteering at a hospice or collecting items for groups like the Keith Dawson Foundation that supports those affected by leukemia and lymphoma.

Almost three years ago, she formed the Spirit of Kindness Foundation, through which she and her children, 20-year-old Rocco and 19-year-old Alyssa, choose where to make annual charitable donations.

In 2022, they made a generous contribution to the Nether Providence Police Department – earmarked by Chief David Splain to cover accreditation fees.

“It feels good to do good things for others,” said Nixon-Vaccone.

Sometimes, that might even translate into a last-minute phone call offering fellow Eagles fans her six season-ticket seats at the 50-yard line.

Convinced the Birds will be going to Super Bowl LVII, Nixon-Vaccone loves talking football, and she was looking forward to some lively banter about Sunday’s contest against the Chicago Bears with the officers come Tuesday’s visit.

This Christmas, Nixon-Vaccone is looking forward to spending time with her children and a military friend who cannot be with his own family this year.

For her, the greatest gift would be for generosity shared so freely around the holidays to continue throughout the year - by and for everyone.

If imitation is truly a form of flattery, Nixon-Vaccone would be honored if more people followed her lead and took more of an interest in the community, especially the police department.

“My goal is that people will start asking, “What can I do to support you as a department, as a community?” 

Follow current news involving the Nether Providence Police Department by downloading the CRIMEWATCH app on the App Store or get on Google Play.