On October 3, 2014 in North Bend, Oregon, local police answered a domestic violence call that indicated a pregnant woman had been hit by her boyfriend. Besides arresting the boyfriend, Officer Patrick Kinney spoke with the woman, who indicated that during the scuffle that led to her calling police, the boyfriend threw a bowl of noodles that had been prepared for her young son.
That meal was the lone thing the child was expected to have for the entire day. Kinney then noticed that her refrigerator had only a few grapes in it, and she explained that only one diaper remained for the entire weekend.
That information, coupled with the fact that the woman had no money or even transportation to the local food pantry resulted in Kinney taking matters into his own hands.
Traveling to his church’s own food pantry, as well as working together with his wife to collect items from his own food stock, Kinney then used his own money to purchase additional groceries.
By the time Kinney had finished, he had collected enough diapers and food to fill up his cruiser. He then transported the items over to the battered woman’s home, an act that caused her to break into tears upon seeing his charity.
When Kinney filed his police report on the incident, he left out the latter portion of his actions, but his police chief was subsequently informed of them. He proceeded to send Kinney a note of recognition, thanking his for his actions.