Christmas Comes for Northside Police Hamper Recipients

‘Tis the season for sharing, caring and giving and with Christmas only two days away, Santa is still roaming the neighborhoods in the city gifting deserving families. This Santa, though, is courtesy the Police from Eastern Division North. Through their Secret Santa holiday program, and donations made by police officers, they were able to buy a trove of food and toys to give away to needy families so that they can have a bright holiday season. Today, the police team and cadets were spreading the holiday cheer and we tagged along:

Fitzroy Yearwood

Insp. Fitzroy Yearwood, Press Officer, Eastern Division North

“Our secret Santa program continues. Today is part two of our Christmas hamper drive. We will attack the Precinct 3 area, all four sectors where we have deserving families who will be receiving food hampers. These hampers are fully equipped. We have meat products courtesy of Quality Poultry, apples, grapes. I can’t go in depth but I know the hampers are fully equipped that could give a family a sensible Christmas meal and beyond.”

Andrea Polanco

“What is the estimated value of all of what you are giving out today?”

Insp. Fitzroy Yearwood

“I believe that each hamper is somewhere in the neighborhood of one hundred dollars plus dollars; a little more than a hundred dollars but it is not really the value. It the thought. We believe that Christmas cheer must be shared and that is our sole purpose of being here today. In the compound you can see our cadets out, the auxiliary police out with us, members of our citizens and patrols program; we have even family members of these cadets who have joined us in this effort along with members of our community policing from precinct three. We will have Officer Commanding Precinct three, Mister Romero, joining us in a few. But the whole thing is to show and share the spirit of Christmas with people in the Pickstock hutment area, the majestic alley area and others within the precinct three proper. As you going around you will see the families who will be impacted by these hampers.”

Andrea Polanco

“Okay. I am gonna ask to just give us a little bit on these families; are they people who wouldn’t normally have this kinda cheer for Christmas?”

Insp. Fitzroy Yearwood

“Yeah. That is our number one criteria; people that we believe that we can really make a different to bring up the holiday spirit for them. We believe that these people are fighting a struggle. We all know that we are all fighting a struggle out there but some more deserving than us and we believe that we can lighten the spirit for them, brighten their day, their holidays. So our community policing officers go through these homes all through the year and they have a selection process that they go through and then at the end of the year we try our best to share the Christmas love with them.”