1– Radford sheriff’s deputy Robert Thacker pitched an idea to help limit the exposure of local senior citizens to the coronavirus by having the department deliver essentials.
Several weeks ago, Radford City sheriff’s deputy Robert Thacker approached Sheriff Mark Armentrout with the idea of a project that would offer services to the elderly and those more susceptible to the virus. Armentrout immediately liked the idea and told Thacker to run with it.
Thacker said he joined law enforcement with the main goal of helping the community any way he could. This was right up his alley.
The idea quickly became known as Project Help a Neighbor. The Radford City Sheriff’s Department launched a social media campaign, and the program started to gain exposure and steam. The basic idea of the project is to provide assistance to seniors that limits their exposure to the coronavirus by delivering basic grocery items, prescriptions and medical supplies. The department quickly began helping some ten families, but that number grows every day.
2 – Deputy Robert Thacker keeps a logbook to record when and to whom deliveries are made.
Thacker is also now working with another project in partnership with Radford-Fairlawn Daily Bread. Daily Bread provides meals at no cost for people in need in Radford and Fairlawn through Meals on Wheels, which offers food delivery for the homebound, and free meals Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. until 12:15 p.m. at the mission, 501 Second St., in Radford. Anyone who lives in Radford or Fairlawn can stop by and get a free meal with no questions asked.
The cooperative effort between the sheriff’s department and Daily Bread is set to begin on Wednesday, April 8, and run for four weeks. Every Wednesday from 10 a.m. until noon, the sheriff’s department will work with Dora Butler, Daily Bread’s director, to deliver canned goods and hot meals to some 20 to 30 families in Radford and Fairlawn.
