Nov 2023. Blues Vol 39 No. 11

off-limits to Alan Helfman, whose fundraising
talents almost always benefit officers in predicaments
encountered off-duty. Ask him and he will
tell you that the men and women in blue routinely
perform dangerous, life-threatening tasks safely
and soundly, only to meet problems beyond their
control when they’re not on Houston streets.
There are an ample number of examples.
A fire in an officer’s house near Baytown caused
him to gut the place and left him and three children
at a total loss of their possessions and keepsakes.
Insurance covered some but not all of this
tremendous loss. Auctioneer Helfman spearheaded
an HPOU-sponsored fundraiser, complete with the
Union’s Barbecue Team and suddenly Officer Kevin
Warren had the necessary funding to begin rebuilding
the charred home.
Retired Officer Vonda Higgins, left paralyzed
when she was shot in 1998 while working undercover
narcotics, underwent several painful surgeries
and years of rehabilitation. Higgins achieved her
independence and was able to drive, only to have
somebody steal her special wheelchair-accessible
van. It was recovered with substantial damage and
deemed unfit for her to operate. Helfman led the
charge to raise funds for a new vehicle. Many of
the items he auctioned at the Breckenridge Porter
Building were pieces of sports memorabilia that
helped bring in more than $90,000. He donated
them!
One June a few years back, HPOU and the Assist
the Officer Foundation pitched in to raise about
$27,000 to help retired Senior Police Officer Karen
Sampson and her family in Sampson’s determined
fight against breast cancer. Again, Helfman was
the auctioneer.
And then, in January 2013, Helfman, HPOU and
ATO set a fundraising record. When totaled,
$104,390 was raised for the wife of Officer Hans
Wagner and the couple’s two children, ages 7 and
13. Wagner suffered severe head injuries when the
family vehicle was broadsided in the summer of
2012. Fortunately, his wife, son and daughter were
not seriously hurt. While recovering, Wagner died
a few weeks after the accident. The fundraising
effort drew unprecedented media attention. Coincidentally,
the record-setting Wagner fundraiser
was Helfman’s 50th benefiting law enforcement
officers or first-responder personnel.
Quite simply, this unconditional money-raising
spirit throbs throughout the bloodstream inside
Alan Helfman. He admits that he’s a salesman who
uses his talent making pitches to help officers in
need. Selling cars also is in his blood. Helfman
owns River Oaks Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge and Ram
on Kirby Drive just off the Southwest Freeway, a
location that opened in 1971. His family has been
in the car business since his grandfather opened a
car lot on Washington Avenue in 1959.
68 The BLUES
68 The BLUES