Local Officers to host Food Drive

The State Highway Patrol is partnering with the New Concord Police Department in the fight against hunger in the local community.

The officers will host a food drive at Riesbeck’s in New Concord this Friday from 3 p.m. until 7 p.m. Sergeant Melanie Appleman with the State Highway Patrol said it’s her first time getting involved with a program like this one and she hopes to build a stronger relationship with the community she serves everyday.

“We like to do things in the community,” said Appleman. “A lot of the times people look at us it’s just traffic enforcement and usually bad news so whenever we get the opportunity to do something that’s good for the community. We work in the community. We live in the community. We’re apart of it as well so we we want to do things that kind of bring a positive light and try to help out wherever we can. ”

All the food collected during the drive will be donated to the College Dr. Presbyterian Church in New Concord which provides a pantry to those in the local area. Chief of Police in New Concord Trevor Hayes said he’s thrilled to see the hard work helping locals fill their cupboards with food for their families.

“[I’m] really glad that we can keep this directly to one of our churches who does an excellent food pantry every week,” said Hayes. “They do a great job of getting out to as many people as they can so anything that we can help donate is going to be awesome. ”

If you’d like to donate to the food drive you can stop by Riesbeck’s between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. to support the cause.