Operation Blessing Deliveries Are Made in Bossier Parish

The Christmas spirit is very much alive in Bossier Parish with "Operation Blessing".  Bossier Sheriff’s Office deputies and Posse members delivered 450 special “Spirit of Christmas” food boxes to Bossier Parish residents to help them have a food for the holidays.

Bossier Sheriff Julian Whittington kicked off the deliveries as a way to help the elderly, shut-ins and those in need throughout the year.

“Year round, we serve about 150 families a week, but at Christmastime, we just want to do an extra box,” said Sheriff Whittington.

Sheriff Whittington noted that the Sheriff’s Office can’t do this by themselves, and collecting the food items and providing funds for the program is a community endeavor.  Students and faculty at Bossier Parish schools help in a big way.

“The individual schools with the students, they’ve gone out and collected these food items,” said Bossier Parish Schools Superintendent Scott Smith.

Several local individuals and businesses chipped in with goods and cash to help fund the program. Brookshires also provides a coupon for a hen in each box, as well as the special boxes for the deliveries.

 “I would just like to say ‘thank you’ to the Sheriff’s Office and all the members that worked so hard to put this together,” said Zac Palmer, Store Director, Brookshire’s in Benton.  “We’re just honored to be a part of it and glad to work with the Sheriff’s Office to help the community in this way.”

Operation Blessing, which began in 1998, is a year-round food bank program that is managed primarily by volunteers with the Posse and Ladies’ Auxiliary.