Officers deliver holiday spirit
Eryn DionNews Staff Writer
TEMPLETON — The Templeton Police Department and Narragansett school system teamed up to deliver a special gift this holiday season - food for 135 local families in need.
Students and teachers worked together to bring in donations, which were then collected and given directly to families and the local food pantry.
“Each class brought in anything from stuffing to peanut butter,” explained Corporal Steven Flis, who serves as the department’s School Resource Officer. “Anything we could get to feed a family.”
According to officials, the donations went beyond just a meal. With schools closed and students on vacation, kids sometimes lose their only meal in any given the day.
“We knew the kids were going to be home, so we wanted to feed them for a couple weeks,” Officer Flis said. “We wanted to give them more than just Christmas dinner.”
Students responded to the call with gusto and were promised a pizza or ice cream party if their class brought in the most items.
“My son raided our cabinets for every can of soup we had,” joked Sergeant Michael Bennett.
The response was so great the department was able to donate the extra food – over 10 boxes, plus turkeys – to the Templeton food pantry.
While the officers admit that they have seen an unfortunate increase in the number of needy families in the community, they have also seen a dramatic increase in donations and volunteers over the years.
“I will say, the donations and generosity of people in this area is amazing,” said Sgt. Bennett. Both officers agreed that this was the best year they had for donations.
The officers wanted to thank the Market Basket in Rindge, N.H. for working with them, and especially wanted to recognize the Narragansett school system for all the effort and hours they put into making the holidays special.
In addition to providing meals, Officers Flis and Bennett made a special delivery Christmas day, bringing donated presents to a family they discovered was going without on the holiday. The Narragansett Middle School principal played a pivotal role in making the department aware of the student’s situation.
“We just played the Santa part,” said Sgt. Bennett.
The officers said it was nice for the department to be recognized for some of the positive things they do for the community.
“People seem to associate police with the negative aspects of our job,” said Sgt. Bennet.
When the program first started, it fed only 100 needy families in the area. Both officers expect the need to keep growing, but are confident that the people of Templeton will always be there to lend a hand.
Kudos to everyone coming together to help our people in our community! This is great news! I'm sure everyone can agree with that.
ReplyDeleteSo, the next time someone would like to make a snotty comment about the new senior center, please keep in mind that the food pantry will also be located there. The new senior center is more of a community center than a place just for seniors. It will benefit many aspects of life in Templeton, young, old and in the middle. So, lets start 2014 on a better note and try to be more supportive of the entire community as a whole.
It is with great hope that the people of Otter River and Baldwinville will be able to vote at the Senior Center location. If the town can possibly dig up the needed funds, and with the work of people willing to lend a hand, the East Templeton School could be a new location for town offices and a place for E.T. and Templeton residents to vote. The people of this town need to stop pouring rent money into the building we now use on Athol Road, and with the increase the owner is asking, the need for our own building only becomes a necessity. Bev.
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