Deputies Deliver Easter Boxes to 60 Families

A group effort brought Easter dinner to 60 families on Thursday including in Dunedin. Since 2003 several community partners have helped provide holiday meals by identifying families in need, donating money and distributing the food.

Pinellas County Sheriff's deputies from the Community Policing Unit and the Greater Ridgecrest Area Youth Development Initiative (GRAYDI) helped identify the families in need.

The deputies in the Community Policing Unit "are the problem solvers in the agency. They are people who look at the problem itself and any triggers such as environmental issues...from street light repairs to the need for senior services," said Captain Teri Dioquino.

The Calvary Episcopal Church, Indian Rocks Beach Rotary Club and the Pinellas Suncoast Fire and Rescue donated the money to purchase the boxes.  on Indian Rocks Road in Largo put the food together.

"It's all about coming to the table. We work with people who don't always have a table. We want to bring everybody to the table. Great festivals such as Easter and Passover are about bringing everybody to the table," said Rev. Robert Wagenseil of Calvary Episcopal Church in Indian Rocks Beach.

The Easter boxes held: a cooked ham, fruit juice, vegetables, mashed potatoes, bread, peanut butter, jelly beans, Easter snack cakes, and navy beans (to make soup later with the ham bone).

On Thursday afternoon Publix employees including Store Manager Dale Hood brought out a pallet of boxes to the loading dock.

Deputies and firefighters loaded up trucks and cruisers, which were delivered to neighborhood centers and individual families in Largo, Clearwater, Dunedin and Lealman.

At the GRAYDI center in Largo, mother of two Syconda Baker shared how much she appreciated the Easter box.

"It helps not to have to find food so we can have a nice Easter with the kids. With the economy a lot of people are struggling and without work," Baker said.