Heather Ainsley
ECB Publishing, Inc.
In the last stretch of 2021, the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office held two separate giveaways. The first was held in early December, and consisted of several pallets of MREs.
MRE is an abbreviation for “The Meal, Ready-to-Eat,” and is a self contained, individual field ration meal that is sealed in lightweight packaging and is most often used by the United States Department of Defense for its service members for use in combat or field situations where organized food facilities are not available. Additionally, MREs are regularly distributed to civilians during natural disasters where supply chain conflicts as well as wide-spread power outages can pose severe food storage issues and supply shortages for citizens.
The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office had a substantial supply of these in storage for use in emergency situations, like recent Hurricane Michael, and were able to use them over the years to supply members of the Jefferson County area with stable, safe food sources in times of need, including being given to evacuees and families that were passing through Jefferson County in an attempt to escape severe weather from other parts of Florida. These meals do, however, have a shelf life and while they have served the community well, that shelf life was nearing its end for some of the supplies in storage. This December, to prevent any waste of still-viable meals which would otherwise be thrown away after their expiration date was reached, Sheriff McNeill gave away several hundred ready-to eat meals to the community, to enable them to be used well before the use-by dates deemed them expired.
The Sheriff's Office wasn't done there, however, and participated in a secondary giveaway that took place during the week of Christmas. This giveaway consisted of 25 bicycles, which were purchased with donations provided to the JCSO. The recipients of the gifted bikes were determined earlier in the year by referrals, church outreaches and deputy recommendations throughout the year as they encountered members of the community who would benefit and enjoy a gift.
Recipients of this giveaway are predetermined by first-hand interactions in the community and are not the result of requests or sign up sheets. The JCSO has been participating in an annual bike giveaway for the last 20 years, and looks forward each year to bringing a little Christmas joy to members of the community.
The generosity from our sheriff and his staff at the JCSO is greatly appreciated! Thank you for all that you do!
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