Washington County Sheriff's Department Looks to Serve in a Different Way

Around the holidays, Washington County Sheriff Sam Hill and his staff brainstormed how they could reach out to their community.  What they came up with was that there is so much going on at the holidays, people are engaged and everyone is lending a helping hand. The Foodbank is packed with volunteers and the local food shelves are receiving donations daily. So, they discussed what happens when the holidays are over.  What happens when hunger isn’t the headline of any paper?  

What will happen is the Washington County Sheriff’s Department food drive.

But the Sheriff’s Department didn’t want the drive to be any ordinary food drop. They wanted their food drive to reach all the people that they serve—all of Washington County. So, Sheriff Hill contacted the Foodbank.  The Vermont Foodbank is the state’s only food bank and services shelters, meal sites, pantries, after school programs, and group homes in every county.  

“We want to collect the weight of four police cruisers,” said Sheriff Hill, “Each cruiser weighs about 2,000 pounds, so our goal is to collect 8,000 pounds of food.”  This one-day food drive will take place at two locations in Washington County.  On Friday, March 17th, in the parking lot of Shaw’s in Waitsfield, food will be collected from 9:30 to 1:00pm.  Likewise, in the parking lot of Price Copper on the Barre/Montpelier Road, people can drop of non-perishable food items from 8:30 to 4:00pm.   

Sheriff Hill said this is the first time that the Sheriff’s Department has done a food drive for the Foodbank.  “If this is a success, our food drive will become a yearly event.”
 
For more information, contact:
Beverly Fuhrmeister
bfuhrmei@dps.state.vt.us
(802) 223-3001