REFERRING OFFICER: Heidi Graber, 13 Precinct (South Side) ASSIGNMENT: Provide emergency food assistance to a family of 6. Yesterday Columbus Division of Police Ofc Heidi Graber met a single mother with five small children. The family has fallen on hard times due to a number of outside factors. Ofc Graber reported that the children were very warm and happy to see her--one even hugged her as soon as she came to their home. After speaking with the mother, Ofc Graber asked if there was anything she could do to help her--clothing, toys, etc. The mother asked if she could get her some food. When someone asks for food, we know they really are hurting, so we didn't pause to post this Assignment. We purchased a $100 gift card to Kroger, printed out a list of local food resources, and met up with Ofc Graber today so the family could get some immediate relief to their hunger. We are a 100% volunteer organization. We have almost no overhead--just a bit for a post office box, a website, and a phone. The rest of your donations go right back into the community, and because some of those donations are set aside for an emergency fund, we were able to work with Ofc Graber to help this family very quickly. We didn't want to take a picture of this family given their situation, but we did take a picture of our president, Nicole Banks, with Ofc Graber. The two are making plans to work on more Assignments in the future and even have a ride along scheduled for November.
