Law enforcement officers in Fremont County, Colorado, now have some basic supplies that they can hand out to people in need.
Staff volunteers at CommonSpirit St. Thomas More Hospital in Canon City, Colorado, packed about 200 "Blessing Bags" earlier this year and gave them to the police. The bags were filled with essential items to nourish, protect and comfort vulnerable community members. This follows a similar effort last year.
Fremont County police keep the bags in their patrol cars so they can distribute them right when they are needed. The county's Undersheriff Derek Irvine said in a press release that "our deputies interact with so many people in need of basic items. These bags will be a blessing to our neighbors."
Becky Brockman, communications manager for St. Thomas More, said the act of generosity is aligned with CommonSpirit Health's ideal to practice human kindness. She said human kindness is "the idea of taking time to treat people with genuine love, respect and compassion. This Blessing Bag program is human kindness in action and takes the practice outside the hospital walls." St. Thomas More is part of the mountain region.
Shannon Haas, director of St. Thomas More's surgical services, emergency department and intensive care unit, organized the Blessing Bag effort. She was inspired by a similar initiative last year, when hospital leaders from throughout CommonSpirit's mountain region, which spans Colorado, Kansas and Utah, packed similar bags during a leadership summit. Those bags went to unhoused people in Denver.
For St. Thomas More's iteration, Haas coordinated with the hospital's volunteer services department to purchase hats, gloves, emergency blankets, socks, toiletries and high-protein snacks. During department staff meetings in February, teams from the emergency department, surgical services, respiratory therapy, imaging and intensive care unit volunteered their time to assemble the bags.
"Seeing the enthusiasm and dedication of our staff in putting these Blessing Bags together has been incredible," Haas said in the release. "I knew our team would embrace the opportunity to make a difference right here at home."
Representatives of the Canon City Police Department and the Fremont County Sheriff's Department picked up the bags when they were ready, and now their officers keep some bags in their cars so they can give them out.
Haas said the project "truly embodies our values of service and compassion."