On Tuesday, November 26, 2002, Officers
from the Berkeley Police Department will distribute over 250
turkey baskets, complete with all the trimmings – dressing,
cranberry sauce, vegetables, dinner rolls, cookies, etc., to
needy families on their beat. About 10,000 pounds of
food will be distributed to 250 families. This is truly
a community event – the Berkeley Boosters / Police
Activities League coordinates the event, the Berkeley Police
Department’s officers nominate the families from their beats
and help to deliver the baskets. Mayor Shirley Dean,
City Council members, Berkeley Rotary, West Berkeley Lion’s
Club, First Presbyterian Church, Boosters Staff and other city
employees and community members volunteer their time and
energy to help stuff the baskets. (It is an assembly
line production that is actually quite impressive!)
Background:
In September of this year, Berkeley
Officers and 1 retired UC Police Officer rode their bikes 216
miles from Berkeley to Lake Tahoe. The bike-a-thon was
conceived 18 years ago by Sergeants Bruce Agnew and now
retired Alec Boga. Contributions are solicited from
fellow Berkeley officers, business people and citizens for
each mile ridden.
The Turkey Ride is sponsored by the
Berkeley Boosters / Police Activities League, a non-profit
community service organization whose primary mission is
bringing Cops and Kids together, working with at-risk youth in
Berkeley and the Berkeley Police Department.
The families that receive the turkey baskets are
selected by their local “Beat Cops.”
NEWS MEDIA COVERAGE OPPORTUNITY:
On Tuesday, November 26, 2002 at 7:45am
in front of the Berkeley Police Department, 2100 Martin Luther
King, Jr. Way, Police Officers and a host of volunteers from
throughout the city (the number of volunteers at this event
has been as high as 120), will donate their time and energy to
pack the turkeys and all the trimmings into boxes.
At approximately 9:00am, the baskets will be loaded into
police cars, the police bus, parking enforcement vehicles and
Berkeley Boosters vans. Individual uniformed officers
will then distribute these turkey baskets to the families in
their particular districts.
Tel (510) 704-0467
Fax (510) 649-0886
E-mail dmanson@berkeleyboosters.org
Web Page: http://www.berkeleyboosters.org
