OPD delivers during 'Operation Santa'

James Mayse, Messenger-Inquirer, Owensboro, Ky.
2 min read
0

Dec. 22—Wednesday morning, members of the Owensboro Police Department and their family members were busy packing large boxes with food in OPD's community room.

The boxes were loaded with canned goods, crackers, pasta and pasta sauce, soups, granola bars, treats and other supplies. Then, the boxes were wheeled to the department's back parking lot, loaded into patrol vehicles and delivered to seniors and families across the city.

Each box contained "multiple days worth of meals" for a small family, OPD Lt. Courtney Yerington said. By the time the deliveries were complete, OPD officers had distributed more than 300 boxes of food.

"This time of year, there is nothing we would rather do," OPD Public Information Officer Andrew Boggess said. "It's a way to give back to the community that is so supportive of us."

Wednesday was OPD's 10th "Operation Santa" food delivery. The event provides food boxes to seniors in the Meals On Wheels program, which shuts down for a few days near Christmas. Yerington said city schools and officials at the city housing authority also help by identifying students and adults who could use food assistance.

Finally, OPD officers out on patrol, who spend their days meeting with city residents during calls for service, refer those in need to the program, Yerington said.

Numerous local businesses donate to the project, and pubic agencies like the city and Catholic school districts hold food drives for the effort. Individuals also bring in donations.

"This year in particular, we had a lot of individual donations," Boggess said. "Those kind of donations allow us to grow the program."

OPD purchases what isn't donated by raising money through its annual "No Shave November" fundraiser, Boggess said.

This year, OPD raised $7,300 for Operation Santa, he said.

The plan was to have all the boxes delivered by afternoon.

"Operation Santa," Boggess said, returns each year because there's a need, and because it's another way OPD officers can help the community.

"Obviously, we all got into this job, this profession, to serve," he said. "Years ago, we saw a need we could address in a nontraditional manner.

"I know we had no to trouble getting names. We didn't struggle to find people in need."

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