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Annual FOP Santa Drop serves 75 local children
Officers with the Putnam County Fraternal Order of Police recently shopped for 75 Putnam County children for its annual Santa Drop initiative. The toys were wrapped and delivered by law enforcement, as well as Santa Claus, The Grinch and Buddy the Elf, to the children’s homes on Monday.
The idea came about 25 years ago when Putnam County Sheriff’s Capt. Jim Baugh and other officers assisted a stranded motorist and his family when their car was immobile on Interstate 70. The man was appreciative of their actions and wished to pass this along by offering them a $100 donation.
Noting the upcoming Christmas holiday, the man asked for them to donate the money to someone in need in the community. The motorist further suggested families struggling during the holiday season, especially with children who may not get a visit from Santa Claus.
“This is one of the happiest times in a law enforcement officer’s career when officers interact with the children,” Greencastle Police Asst. Chief Brian Hopkins said in a release. “Seeing children standing at their window and smiling as law enforcement officers pull up to their house and Santa gets out of the police car is priceless. This could not have been possible without the support of the community.”
Contributors to the effort have included the following: Paul Blue Jr.; Charles and Lila Keller; Alicia Linton; David McRee and RESQ Health and Safety Training; Stone’s Auto Body Specialists (Tony Stone); Susan Marie Crodian; Loretta Ash (in memory of Joe Ash); Shawn and Patricia Johnson; Jesse M. Lee VFW Post 1550; Dr. Russell Elliot (Elliott Optometry); Banner Graphic; Van Braden; Club 16 (Loretta Arnold); Stephen and Kathryn Jones; William and Dorothy Richards; Judi Scheer; MAC Restoration Services (Ronald McCormick Jr.); Greencastle Kiwanis; Kenneth and Eleanor Hauser; HMSB Insurance; Virgil and Loretta Arnold; Pat Hess; Thomas and Jean Baker; Steve and Debra Sands; Anne Clark; Robert Nichols; Frank and Marie Laroche; Stanley and Linda Everts; Jinsie Bingham; Steve and Debra Sands; Greencastle Pediatric Dentistry (Dr. John Hennette); Hendershot’s Service Center (Greg and Darcy Hendershot); Carolyn Parker; Earl, Michelle, Justin and Hunter Gorrell; Brick Chapel United Methodist Church (in memory of former Greencastle Police Chief Sonny Wood); Dale and Susan Thomas; Trudy Sutherlin; David and Tammy Parker; Judy Braham; Martha Sutherlin; Furniture AwareHouse; Keith and Earlene Gossard; and Eric Layne Davis.
