Idaho State Police to distribute 600 meals to families in need this holiday season

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AMMON — Bags of meals were packed into a big trailer by troopers Wednesday and taken to a local school district to help families in need this holiday season.

It’s all part of the “10 Counties of Christmas” by Idaho State Police District 6. It takes months of planning and weeks of work to raise money for meals by partnering with Broulim’s.

“We are just carrying on the tradition that we started back in 2017 of delivering meals for families in need,” said Sgt. Blake Higley, a trooper with Idaho State Police in Idaho Falls.

In the month of November, troopers will spend time raising money. Higley said they will put troopers in Broulim’s from Ammon to St. Anthony to even Driggs and across the counties.

Troopers will then help distribute the meals during the month of December within the 10 counties in District 6: Bonneville, Madison, Fremont, Jefferson, Bingham, Teton, Clark, Butte, Custer and Lemhi.

On Wednesday morning, ISP went to Broulim’s in Ammon to load up boxes of turkey and ham, along with bags full of food.

“Depending on the meal, it’s either a turkey or ham dinner and then it has all the fixings: potatoes, cookies, brownie mix, a drink, canned goods and rolls,” said Higley.

Businesses that have helped sponsor and make this all happen include Idaho Pork Producers, Westmark Credit Union, Coca-Cola, Wada Farms, Gomm’s Warm Cookies, and, of course, Broulim’s.

This year, ISP will be able to help distribute 600 meals, which is significantly higher than last year’s 475.

Once all the food was loaded up in the trailer, ISP drove to Bonneville Joint School District 93 and dropped off 181 meals.

Higley said they partner up with schools across the counties to help make the deliveries.

“Delivery days is by far the best part. We get to come and drop off all the meals and know that they are going to a good place. It’s also nice to get an email or a text or phone call that says, ‘Hey, those meals really helped out a lot of people.’ At the end of the day, that’s absolutely what we are looking for,” he said.

District 93 organizer Sara Colson helps with the 10 Counties of Christmas. She reaches out to each of the schools within the district and lets them know that ISP is looking forward to donating again.

“Each school will look at their student population and see if there is someone in need,” Colson said. “It could also be a teacher but families have needs for different reasons. Sometimes the obvious one is financial but many times it could be there’s just extra stresses on the family, maybe there has been a death or maybe it’s been illnesses. A nice meal is wonderful for that.”

She told EastIdahoNews.com that it is humbling to see so many people come together to help.

Higley added that all of this wouldn’t be possible without the generous contributions from the community.

“On behalf of the State Police and Broulim’s, we thank this community tremendously for their support and trust in our program,” he said.

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