The Shelby Police and Fire Departments sprang into action on last week when they received word that the FISH food pantry at Shelby Help Line was running low on essential items. In the span of a few hours, police officers and firemen were able to raise approximately $1,000 and deliver a heaping pile of groceries to the pantry.
Shelby Police Chief Charlie Roub said the movement got started on Friday afternoon when FISH volunteer Bill Rudd mentioned volunteers had been purchasing groceries out of their own pockets to keep supplies on the pantry shelves. Rudd asked Roub to ask the police department if they would be interested in helping out, and his officers responded in a big way.
“I came home and got a hold of (Sgt.) Dave Mack and said here’s what’s going on, and he got a hold of all the union guys,” said Roub. “Pretty quickly they decided that probably wasn’t going to be enough, and took a vote and the FOP Lodge 180 decided to make a $500 contribution, plus they started working on a food drive for later on.”
From there the FOP reached out to the Shelby Fire Department and the Shelby IAFF Local 2492, and together along with individual member donations nearly $1,000 was pooled in a few hours to help replenish the pantry.
Shelby Firefighter Jared Mawhorr and Police Cpt. Lance Combs spent more than an hour at Cornell’s IGA shopping for items to donate, with owner Gene Cornell offering a 15 percent discount towards all the items purchased.
In total, $800 worth of food was brought to the FISH food pantry on Friday, with Mawhorr and Officer Paul Zehner visiting the pantry again on Monday morning to gauge what food items the leftover $200 could be spent on.
The FISH food pantry is in need of the following: Canned items of stews, canned meats and pasta; breakfast items of pancake mix and syrup; paper products of toilet paper; and meal items of spaghetti noodles and sauce, macaroni and cheese, hamburger and tuna helper, boxed side dishes, and other packaged meals.
“It’s getting harder and harder for the families because the price is going up for groceries, especially right now with school starting and they have the expense of the schools and all that to think about,” said Nancy Melick, FISH volunteer. “They’ve got to buy school clothes and shoes, and they do get help here if they come here for those items but it’s still just a basic package. And then, of course, you’ve got to put food on the table, so it hurts the budget.”
Roub mentioned that in addition to the police and fire department’s shopping spree, the departments are partnering with the Shelby Area Business Group’s “Stuff The Caboose” event. On Saturday, Aug. 16 during the Shelby Cruise In, people were able to fill a train caboose, a police department vehicle and a fire department vehicle with school supplies and canned goods to be donated back to the community.
The Shelby FOP Lodge 180 has challenged the IAFF 2492 in a “Pack the Vehicle” event where the public can fill the vehicles with items to donate to assist in restocking the food pantry. Any child that brought a canned good to stuff either the police or fire department vehicle will be eligible to enter a drawing that will make them a police officer or firefighter for the day, complete with a swearing-in ceremony and a ride in a police or fire vehicle leading the next organized parade.
“It’s been a tough time for (the FISH food pantry) as far as getting donations; there are a lot of people right now that need their services, and people kind of forget that need exists,” said Roub. “I’m really glad they came to us with that, and really glad we were able to come through for them.”
Mawhorr noted a few people were frustrated on Friday as the shelves at Cornell’s were depleted of supplies, but once word started to spread about the donation to FISH the Shelby community’s response was overwhelmingly positive. Two Facebook posts on the Shelby Police Department’s page generated more than 1,000 likes and 70 shares, with more than 130 comments as of Monday afternoon.
“What we’re finding is Shelby is so terrific as far as helping out, when they get the word they’re right there,” said Melick. “From there it just zoomed.”
Roub said for the two departments to come together so quickly and to such an extent is a “wow” factor.
“That’s what we’re here for, people hear all the time ‘protect and serve,’ and service to the community is important,” he said. “We’ve got the greatest guys in the world working down there, as a department head I can’t say enough about them. The way they came through with that amazed me, I knew they were going to do something but how quickly that all came together and everybody being on the same page, it’s just amazing.”
For those wishing to donate to the FISH food pantry, items can be dropped off at the Shelby Police Department, the Shelby Fire Department or the FISH pantry located at 29 1/2 Walnut Street during regular hours.
“It’s getting harder and harder for the families because the price is going up for groceries, especially right now with school starting and they have the expense of the schools and all that to think about,” said Nancy Melick, FISH volunteer.
