South Bend Police Department holds 'Stock Up for Summer' food and toiletries drive

Claire Reid, South Bend Tribune
·3 min read
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South Bend Police Sgt. Brad Rohrscheib looks over some of the collected items that are stored in an in-house food pantry Tuesday, April 12, 2023, at the South Bend Police Station.
South Bend Police Sgt. Brad Rohrscheib looks over some of the collected items that are stored in an in-house food pantry Tuesday, April 12, 2023, at the South Bend Police Station.

SOUTH BEND — South Bend Police officers like Randall McMurray must be prepared to aid people in need all 24 hours of the day.

This includes times when most stores and restaurants are closed, so the police department often relies on its in-house food pantry to provide food and other items to people officers encounter on their patrol routes. In many cases, the pantry also allows officers to provide direct assistance to those in need rather than directing them to other community organizations.

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"It's cool because we can immediately help people if they need it," McMurray said. "A lot of times, with other programming, if we find someone that needs help, we have to try to get ahold of somebody to get them into that program, and then it's kind of a slow roll. Having direct access and being able to go and get that stuff for ourselves is very important. … It's a very good feeling knowing that you can actually impact someone's life immediately rather than directing them toward a resource."

SBPD Lt. Kyle Dombrowski said the department relies heavily on donations from businesses and individuals to fill the pantry. Donations tend to peak around the winter holidays, when the department has long held food drives, so this year, it decided to hold a spring food drive as well.

The South Bend Police Department operates a pantry with food and other essentials that officers can use to assist people they encounter in the course of their work. The collected items are shown Tuesday, April 12, 2023, at the police station.
The South Bend Police Department operates a pantry with food and other essentials that officers can use to assist people they encounter in the course of their work. The collected items are shown Tuesday, April 12, 2023, at the police station.

The SBPD partnered with Stand Against Violence Everyday Outreach of South Bend, also known as S.A.V.E., to hold the "Stock Up for Summer" food and toiletries drive, which began April 3.

The SBPD and S.A.V.E. are accepting donations of non-perishable food items and unused toiletries, baby items, school supplies and clothing until Friday, May 5. Donations can be dropped off in the main lobby of the South Bend Police Department, located at 701 W. Sample St., or at the Goodwill Career Center, located at 1805 W. Western Ave.

On Saturday, May 6, the department is holding a drive-up food donation event from 8 a.m. to noon in front of the police station to finish up its food drive efforts.

Donations from the "Stock Up for Summer" food drive will go to S.A.V.E. and the SBPD food pantry. If a surplus of donations is collected, extra items will go to other charitable organizations in the community, Dombrowski said.

The South Bend Police Department food pantry allows officers to quickly provide food and other personal items to people in need they encounter on their patrol.
The South Bend Police Department food pantry allows officers to quickly provide food and other personal items to people in need they encounter on their patrol.

Helping those in need

Dombroski said, hopefully, the SBPD food pantry prevents people in need from committing crimes in order feed and provide for themselves.

"We can help somebody so that they don't … feel the need to shoplift or steal something," he said. "They can come to us, come to S.A.V.E. There are different organizations in our community to help you so you don't have to do that."

In addition to food items, Dombrowski said, the department encourages the community to donate diapers and baby wipes and new school supplies, backpacks, children's clothing, hats and gloves.

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Of the families McMurray encounters on his patrol, he said, they are often most in need of diapers and wipes for their young children.

"Those resources make such a big difference, because, usually, those are the things where, if someone has to leave immediately out of a situation, that's what they don't have," he said.

Food collection boxes sit in the lobby Tuesday, April 12, 2023, at the South Bend Police Station.
Food collection boxes sit in the lobby Tuesday, April 12, 2023, at the South Bend Police Station.

McMurray said donations to the SBPD food pantry often benefit young mothers in need and domestic violence victims who've recently left abusive situations.

Domestic violence victims "often don't really have anything with them other than what's on their backs, so I try to throw a bunch of stuff together to at least give them something to hold them over for a few days or a week or so," McMurray said. "That way, at least they have something. Maybe that's the one thing they don't have to necessarily worry too much about, and they can focus on whatever else they need to focus on."

Email Tribune staff writer Claire Reid at cereid@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: South Bend police hold springtime food and toiletries drive