'A proverbial hug': Sheriff and deputies deliver Christmas gifts to 75 local families
FREMONT - Red Santa hats, complete with white puffballs on the end, went with full Sandusky County Sheriff deputy uniforms on Tuesday. There was not a dry eye among those tough men and women from the department who went out with Sheriff Chris Hilton on Tuesday to be part of the department’s inaugural Christmas Giveaway Spectacular.
A large group of of sheriff's office members met at a county maintenance building in Fremont, many in their personal vehicles, to accompany a large trailer filled with donated goods that they delivered to 75 families across the area.
“It’s all about the spirit of giving. It’s about doing for your fellow person and doing for the community that we all serve,” Hilton said. “It’s about that somebody who might need to know that they are being thought of.
'We are in this together'
"I asked my deputies to find some people who might be going through some tough times, somebody who might really appreciate a box of, ‘Hey, we’re thinking about you, we appreciate what you have gone through, and there are people in the community who want you to know that we care.’ It can be a financial thing, but it's more that we’ve got you. This is the Christmas season, the holiday season and that we are in this together.”
Despite a well-planned itinerary, driving across the county for the giveaway took hours of work that stretched over a couple of days.
There were a lot of tears.
One woman, whose husband had recently died, cried and asked to hug every member of the sheriff’s department.
Deputy John Johannsen, K-9 deputy and school resource officer for Lakota Schools, described his experience.
“I see hardship and tears, and that she knows her community and the place that she works is behind her all the time. Like she said, she’s in a slump right now, but now she sees hope. I’m a little speechless,” Johannsen said, almost equally overwhelmed.
That woman was the first of many that wanted to hug.
While at least one person in each household had been told that a deputy would be stopping by their house, they didn’t know the reason. Surprise was clear. Many were overwhelmed.
'Oh! My gosh, what have I done now?'
As this was the first time the sheriff had held the event, there was also some confusion.
“Oh! My gosh, what have I done now?” asked an exasperated 11-year-old boy, when he saw the flashing emergency lights on the sheriff’s escort vehicles.
The boy had done nothing wrong and turned away in shock at the gift.
Hilton had a couple of the cars come along as a safety precaution. The had the lights on while the group was parked on busy streets.
He knew a lot of details about the boy, who was one of the recipients of a large television.
“He’s a good kid. He’s a multi-sport athlete, with good grades. Like many kids, he likes playing Fortnite. He’s also watching his dad die. The hospital bed is in the living room," Hilton said.
The method of choosing families was not scientific and there was not always a financial need.
“We really wanted to pick out some families that may have just needed a proverbial hug,” Hilton said. “We got a huge donation of stuff. We’re talking kids' toys, markers and art supplies, headphones, mixers, bowls and personal floatation devices. It’s a mixture of things that we have split up into 75 boxes, full of about 14 or 15 items.”
Hilton said that the department doesn’t always know what a family might want, or need, from the box. However, there are also some specific families in mind, where the need might be greater, or they know something about an individual.
Hilton has only one request for the recipients.
“We’re here to say thank you. We’re here to give a piece of the holiday season. Keep what you want, but if there’s something that you don’t want, or need, pass it on to your fellow person, whether that be your friend, family or neighbor, it’s all about the giving. It’s all about the season. It’s all about the holiday spirit,” Hilton said.
“It’s a paying-it-forward concept. Then there are also some other ones where we have some pretty significant donations, and some things bought," he said. "We have some refrigerators. We have some televisions to give away. We have $2,000 in cash, and we’re going to give $500 to four different families that could use it.”
Hilton said that there have been some big local business donors, including Home Depot and Walmart, but he said that much it has been from private donations.
Hilton got the idea for the event from a friend in Michigan, Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson.
Some of the donations come from that connection with Swanson, who started doing a similar giveaway event several years ago. A member of the Detroit Pistons' organization has been instrumental in the Michigan event and is now also helping in Sandusky County.
“It’s that paying-it-forward, the spirit of giving and taking care of your fellow person,” Hilton said.
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This article originally appeared on Fremont News-Messenger: Hugs and gifts delivered for holidays by sheriff's office
