FOR A GOOD CAUSE -- Bob Hyzdu

-- Story by Deepa Bharath, photo by [tk]

Bob Hyzdu started volunteering three years ago.

Now it’s almost an addiction for the 69-year-old Santa Ana Heights

resident who volunteers at the Costa Mesa Police Department.

Hyzdu still feels a sense of allegiance to Costa Mesa -- a city he and

his wife, Gene, made their home for more than 20 years.

He volunteers about 16 hours a week over four days at the Westside

Substation on West 18th Street.

Hyzdu does everything there from entering information into the

computers to fixing tickets, bicycle registration and scanning

fingerprints.

“It’s a very interesting job,” he said. “You meet a lot of interesting

people from various professions. I’ve met physicians, surgeons, nurses,

schoolteachers, ambulance drivers -- the list goes on and on.”

He said he also had opportunities to experience ride-alongs in police

patrol cars and fly-alongs in the helicopter. He also took part in the

Citizen’s Police Academy. He was not required to do that, but he said he

did it out of interest and curiosity.

Hyzdu said this is his first job as a volunteer. Why the Police

Department? It started on a whim, he said.

“I saw in the paper that they needed volunteers,” he said. “So that’s

how I got here.”

He started off as a volunteer in charge of washing patrol cars.

“They called me Carwash Bob,” he said with a laugh. “I did that for

two years. Averaged about eight cars a day.”

He has been at the Westside substation for about a year and a half.

Volunteering certainly has its benefits apart from the satisfaction of

giving back to your community, he said.

“It keeps you active,” he said. “I’d rather be doing this than sitting

at home watching the tube. I spend enough time doing that anyway.”

Hyzdu said this is a job he will do as long as he can do it.

“I will keep coming here,” he said, “till they close the lid.”