The Blue and You program was hard at work Saturday, December 17, spreading holiday cheer. The Blue and You program, is a 501c3 organization that was developed with a primary of enhancing the community policing efforts.
The holiday season is a busy time for community organizations, and that has been no different for the Levelland PD’s Blue and You program.
For the Blue Santa program, this year the organization teamed up with Love Levelland who has taken the lead role for families in need of assistance when it comes to holidays.
“Our Blue Santa program is something that gets us excited and when we first put this together, we knew right away that doing this annually was going to be the new tradition,” said Chief Garcia. “Being able to be a part of these kids holiday experience is special and that is one of the things I enjoy about what we are able to do as an organization and a department.”
With the opportunity to spread holiday cheer and take the time to put a few smiles across 19 children, the PD was more than excited to give those children an experience they will continue to remember.
“We teamed up this year with Love Levelland and we’ve sponsored 19 kids this year which is similar to last year,” said Chief Garcia. “By sponsoring, what that means is we had 19 kids that we ’re picked up on Saturday. The goal was to have some fun and I think we accomplished that.”
A team of police officers retrieved all 19 kids from their homes around 8 a.m. and made their way to McDonald’s for breakfast.
McDonald’s owner Bill Cohen and his staff have been a part of the festivities for a second year now,.
“They sponsored the breakfast meal with these kids and we can’t thank them enough for what they do,” said Chief Garcia. “Mr. Cohen is always a great supporter of Love Levelland and the police department.”
After spending time with officers and the McDonald’s staff, the kids hopped into the officer’s units and made their way to Walmart.
“There was a whole line of police vehicles with lights, sirens and all that stuff,” said Chief Garcia. “After escorting the children to Walmart we spent some time looking at toys and having a fun time with the Walmart employees. Additionally, the group had some other things that they’ve have planned for the for the event. “We had stockings that we gave the kiddos, and we had different types of things that Love Levelland did specifically for families,” said Chief Garcia.