Seeing a police officer on the door step is not usually a good sign. However, for the residents in Harrah, Oklahoma in dire need of financial help, seeing a police officer on their door step or being pulled over turned into the biggest blessing of their Christmas season. The police department in Harrah decided to be a bunch of good samaritans this year. However, they were not the masterminds behind the plan, and got help from Harrah’s Assembly of God, Countryside Baptist Church, and the First Baptist Church of Harrah.
The three churches combined raised $3,000 to help the police department. It was the Assembly of God church that first approached the police and asked them to distribute the $2,000 they had already collected in $50 packets. The police did this in a simple manner. They broke the total of $3,000 into blocks of $50 each. Then, they looked around and found the residents of the city who needed the money the most. This is what made the act so moving. They identified people who truly would have benefited from the money.
Many of the recipients of the money broke down into tears when they saw what the police were truly pulling them over for or why they were really at their house. Janice Hughes, a resident of Harrah, was one of the lucky recipients of the donations. Her husband has been in the hospital recovering from an aneurysm that almost killed him for a while, and has been out of work since the aneurysm. For 12 years, they have been watching and taking care of their granddaughter – since her birth, in fact, have they been watching her. She isn’t blood related, but they have taken her in because it is the right thing to do. Hughes was overjoyed to receive the money, and embraced the police officer who handed her the money. One recipient was on oxygen, and she was overjoyed to receive the money. Another young mother received money as well, and broke into tears after the police officer who pulled her over handed her the money.
The Harrah citizens have something to be sincerely thankful for this Christmas season. From loving churches to police men who are willing to risk it all to pull these citizens over or make a home visit to give them the money in person, a true Christmas season gift has sprung itself on them – and everyone is willing to admit that they were in need of it.