VA Police, Rutherford County Law Enforcement Spread Holiday Cheer
By Heather Elliott, Interim, Outreach Specialist
Spreading holiday cheer, VA Tennessee Valley Healthcare Systems (TVHS) Police Services teamed up with Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office to bring big smiles to the faces of deserving children in the community during the “Shop with a Sheriff” event on Dec. 6.
The Rutherford County Sherriff’s School Resource Officers selected 40 children to assist them with needed Christmas gifts, thanks to donations from community events, including some at Toot’s in Murfreesboro.
“We serve a large community of Veterans. This is a great event for [us] to show how much we can participate and give even more than what we do to the Veterans and their families,” said Lt. Allen Harris, VA Police Operations Supervisor.
This is Harris’ first time participating in the Shop with a Sheriff event since joining the VA, but he participated in similar events when he worked in law enforcement in Georgia.
“I really appreciated the Rutherford County Sheriff's Office for inviting us, hopefully we can have more officers next year from the VA…Maybe, in the future, we can even host our own,” Harris said.
VA Police were one of several organizations that helped support the event including Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office, Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency, Rutherford County Sheriff's Office Citizens Academy Alumni, and more.
“I love having as many agencies as we can out here,” said Emily Leonard, School Resource Officer at Roy Waldron Elementary School. “It shows the community that we're here for them and we want to help them.”
TVHS provides world class care to more than 146,000 Veterans across middle Tennessee, southern Kentucky, and northern Georgia. Enrolled in VA health care within Rutherford County there are 19,000 Veterans. By participating in these events, VA Police demonstrate their ongoing impact on the local community.
For Leonard, events like Shop with a Sheriff have a lasting impact on the children and their families in the community, far past the hours of shopping for Christmas gifts. She feels it is important that the community knows that we’re here for them.
“We want to help because that is our main priority in being in law enforcement – is being here for our community,” Leonard said.