It all started with a call to the local police station in Mount Pleasant, Tennessee.
The caller was an elderly man in the area. He had a simple, yet vital request that captured the attentions of the station within minutes.
He asked if some officers could bring food to his apartment.
The man had lived for a long time in the small town of Mount Pleasant, located on the edge of Appalachia. The town is a scenic traditional village with as few as 5,000 inhabitants.
The people who live there depend on each other for support, and this situation proved just how strong the bonded community is.
The 79-year-old told police that he hadn’t eaten anything for days, and he had no means of changing that. Unfortunately, the man had been robbed of his bank card by a former caregiver and couldn’t go out on his own in the harsh winter. It’s unclear whether he has any family in the area, or if they were also trapped inside their homes as a result of the weather.
In any case the old man had no one to turn to, and so he called the police. Luckily for him, they were more than happy to help.
Besides fighting crime in the community, Mount Pleasant’s police department is involved in everything from supporting sports teams to campaigning for safety on the roads. And, like in many other small towns, the officers’ faces are familiar to most people. Most likely, this was why the 79-year-old called the station in the first place.
According to reports, the officers bought enough food to fill the old man’s pantry for a month.
Four policemen took around $160 out of their own pockets, went to the store, and packed the fridge full of food.
It turned out to be even more significant than they could have known. Just a few days later, another heavy snowstorm struck the town.
Meanwhile, the police department wanted to do something to help the 79-year-old in the long term. Officers there started a food pantry at the station just in case something like this happened again. They were also able to track down and arrest the caregiver who robbed the elderly man and took his bank card initially. What good cops they are!
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