CLEARLAKE — Five area families received a visit from members of the Clearlake Police Officers Association (POA) on Wednesday morning. The officers brought with them boxes filled to the brim with all the fixings for a traditional Thanksgiving Day dinner.
POA President Officer Mike Ray said the association recognizes the importance of supporting the community it serves. “We do the toy drive every year and we sponsor Little League, but Thanksgiving is here and there are a lot of families in immediate need,” he said. “The whole point of this effort was to find families who really needed this.”
POA members loaded their vehicles full of good tidings with every morsel of the dinner covered. Each gift included not only a turkey but also a ham along with potatoes and gravy, yams and marshmallows, vegetables, sparkling cider, dinner rolls and pumpkin pie. Aluminum foil, baking pans and turkey basters completed the gifts. “Don”t forget the butter,” one officer said to another as they loaded their cars en route for delivery.
The officers” first stop was at the home of a family of five. “We appreciate this so much,” Gina Gomez said. “We didn”t have anything.”
Gomez”s daughter further extended the family”s gratitude by presenting the officers with handcrafted, colorfully-decorated thank-you notes with messages thoughtfully penned by youth of the family.
“That right there is why I”ve been up for 27 hours,” Ray said admitting to the emotion welling up inside of him in the moment. “That right there makes me feel good.”
Next stop was at the home of a Spanish-speaking family of five whose hardships fell swiftly upon them this holiday week. Reserve Officer Tony Lopez rendezvoused with the other officers at the home where he provided translation services. “Gracias,” the boy at the door said.
Next on the list was the home of Robb McGiffin, who was also very much appreciative. “As soon as the kids get home, we”re going to have a feast,” he said. “We were thawing out pork chops. This is much better than pork chops!”
After bidding McGiffin and his family a happy Thanksgiving, the officers headed to the Martinez residence where a young man answered the door. The smile on Andrew Martinez”s face never vanished as the officers told him what was inside the box.
“My mom was supposed to stay with us but she went somewhere else and left us to fend for ourselves,” Martinez said. “This is our first Thanksgiving for our daughter and I appreciate this very much.”
The final stop was at the home of Chelle Jones, who found it difficult to contain her expression of gratitude, jumping up and down with excitement and sharing hugs all around. “I gave my turkey dinner away and this is God saying here it is. I”m getting God-bumps,” she said. “You guys are awesome. You just made my holiday!”
Ray said that families were chosen with the assistance of area churches and other resources as well as through direct contact officers have had while rendering service to the community. “Like many of the families in the city, there”s no work and they don”t have any money, but they deserve a nice holiday just like everyone else,” Ray said.
Gift boxes were filled completely by the POA. Ray said no donations or store discounts were necessary to accomplish the endeavor. The delivery crew consisted of Ray, Officer Tyler Paulsen, Sgt. Tim Celli and Officer Dominic Ramirez.
Contact South County reporter Denise Rockenstein at drockenstein@clearlakeobserver.com or call her directly at 994-6444, ext. 11.
