KNOXVILLE, Tennessee — The Knox County Sheriff's Office is partnering with Compassion Ministries to feed the hungry.
Compassion Ministries provides the food and deputies distribute it when they come across situations of need while on the job, according to KCSO spokeswoman Kimberly Glenn, whose office is overseeing the effort.
The partnership started last month, shortly before Thanksgiving.
A victims advocate reached out to KCSO's Family Crimes Unit because a dad with three small children living in a Knox County motel desperately needed food.
"Because of the food pantry and our partnership with Compassion Ministries, the need was met," Glenn told 10News. "The dad was so thankful and we were blessed by the ability to give."
Compassion Ministries is an all-volunteer outreach that started by feeding hungry people locally and now helps those in need of food in East Tennessee as well as Kentucky, Louisiana and parts of North Carolina.
The Mend House, a Knoxville place where men can get treatment for addiction, and Never Alone Recovery, another area addiction resource, also have been helped by the pantry effort, according to Glenn.
Sometimes officers while out doing their job come across people who simply need help with the basics. The new pantry partnership is one way to help, Glenn said.
The Sheriff's Office's own people sometimes need help, she said. A corrections officer's family recently lost a home to fire for which they, too, received some food help.
"Sheriff Spangler insists that we do more than enforce the law," Glenn said. "He challenges each of us to look for ways to give back to our community and to offer a hand up to those in need."
If you want to donate, you can email Glenn at kimberly.glenn@knoxsheriff.org.
Compassion Ministries has helped Tennessee tornado victims this year as well as those struggling in the pandemic.
You can contact Compassion Ministries at 865-755-9512 or by emailing executive director Robin Rolland at robin@compassionministries.net.