Owensboro Police Department held their 9th annual Operation Santa food drive Wednesday morning, donating more than 300 food boxes to community members across the city.
The department teamed up with the Senior Community Center of Owensboro-Daviess County to gather food supplies for those that were regularly served by the Meals on Wheels program. This program is also able to offer assistance to families identified by Owensboro Public Schools and the Housing Authority of Owensboro.
With funds raised by the annual “No Shave” fundraiser and donations by local businesses and organizations, Public Information Officer Andrew Boggess said that OPD was able to fill up over 300 boxes and have some items left over.
To be able to provide the connection to the community has been beneficial for OPD, Boggess said, especially during the holiday season.
“We have a very supportive community, particularly over the Christmas time. We identify a need where people may be struggling to get food provided to them in their normal avenues,” Boggess said. “And there was a way that we identified that we could help out.”
Inside each box was a plethora of items including canned goods, bread, crackers and more to help supply food over the next few days.
Part of the team split up for deliveries in their police cruisers — which were called sleighs for the day — and a large amount of the boxes were packed tight as they headed to neighborhoods.
If the resident was not home, the boxes were dropped on the doorstep outside. However, most of the officers got to personally hand the box to the family.
“The response is overwhelmingly positive. These people are very appreciative to be able to get the assistance when they need it,” Boggess said.
Additionally, they made some extra boxes for any people that they came across that also needed one but was not on the list.
Boggess said that several businesses came together to make this event possible including Kroger, IGA, Meijer, Atmos Energy, and several others.
