Allegheny County Sheriff's Deputies Deliver Turkeys To The Underprivileged
NORTH VERSAILLES (KDKA)- They're not the every day box lunches.
Each carton hoisted into Sheriff's Department vans is filled with a Thanksgiving fixings for an underprivileged family of four. The "Turkey Roundup" is spearheaded by Walmart and the Allegheny County Sheriff's Department.
Dinners are loaded in the Walmart lot in North Versailles.
"We did it because it gives us a sense of community," Sheriff Bill Mullen says. "It's very gratifying for the deputies that come up and perform this type of service. We do a lot of work like this during the year, too, but during the holidays it's especially rewarding for us."
He says it's one of a series of events in which the department reaches out to the community.
An enthusiastic crowd braves the cold, lining up for Thanksgiving goodies at the turkey caravan's destination, the Rainbow Kitchen in Homestead. They'll take home 4,000 pounds of frozen turkeys.
"It helped out a lot, and I'm glad I could be down here and receive turkey, because I didn't know what I was going to do," said John West of Homestead.
"Last year we did about 200 turkeys alone," says Walmart spokesman Tony Dattilio. "This year, we're able to provide about 250 turkeys, plus all the fixings, including the pumpkin pie."
Deputies described days like this as the flip-side of law enforcement.
"This is the thankful end of a thankless job," says Deputy Jason Tarap. "No one thanks you a whole lot if you give them a traffic citation or for taking them into custody. But today, they're going to see us on a different side, where we're actually filling that box with an entire meal, and for us, that makes us feel good."
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