5 days ago
East Peoria Police host 'Pack the Cruiser' food drive at Kroger
EAST PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — The East Peoria Police Department teamed up with the community for their annual 'Pack the Cruiser' event to help fight hunger in the area.
Officers were stationed outside the East Peoria Kroger at 201 North Main Street from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 31, collecting donations of non-perishable food items.
Officer Nicholas Swise emphasized the importance of community support for local food banks.
'Everything today, that's a nonperishable, it gets donated to the local food banks, and it gets transported and fills up local food banks at your church or in your neighborhood,' Swise said. 'If you have a food bank in your neighborhood, what we're doing is restocking. Make sure we feed the people who need it the most.'
Residents brought canned meat and fish, canned vegetables, drink mixes, fruit cups, granola bars, Graham Crackers, oatmeal, cereal, pasta, canned sauces and peanut butter.
He also said for many local children, school meals provide the only reliable source of nutrition during the week. The 'Pack the Cruiser' drive aimed to help fill the gap during weekends and summer months when school meals are unavailable.
Swise also spoke about the ongoing need in the community and the police department's commitment.
'We have people out here in need. And the biggest thing is, food pantries — they always need something and there's always people out there who need help or people who are struggling,' he said. 'And the biggest thing we got to do is show our community that we're here. We're going to support them and make sure that we feed everybody who needs it. Anybody that's in a hard time, we want to get them out of the hard time, get them to step forward that they need.'
Community members came out to show their support by donating and helping the East Peoria Police Department pack their cruiser with much-needed food supplies.
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