Thanksgiving meal giveaway gives boost to communities impacted by tragedies

RICHMOND, VA (WWBT) - Officers are used to approaching homes, often times to deliver something that people may not want to receive. But this week, things are different.

When the resident opens the door they’ll be the recipient of a box filled with everything they need for a Thanksgiving feast.

“We believe that life is about service and giving back to people and so this is our opportunity to do that," said Albertina Rasin Walker, who helped organize the event.

The turkey dinner giveaway is a partnership between Richmond Police and Citizens Against Crime Inc., an organization founded by the late Alicia Rasin who was well known for her community activism.

Those receiving the meals are either victims of homicide or they’ve experienced a traumatic event this year that brought darkness into their lives.

“We want to do something to brighten their lives just a little bit even if it’s just for a couple hours today," Walker said.

It’s needed. One home in the East End of Richmond received one of the dinners.

“We were in the bed asleep and we heard the gun boom boom boom boom," the resident said.

Back in October somebody squeezed off shots in their neighborhood some of them pierced the walls of the resident’s home striking her sleeping nine year old grand daughter int he head.

“She must have sat up in the couch some kind of way and that’s how they shot her in the head and her momma came out the bedroom and said ‘oh my baby done got shot,” the grandmother said.

The bullet traveled clear through the home and out the opposite wall leaving bullet holes in the home next door.

“I don’t eat, I can’t sleep, I’m just so nervous," the grandmother said. "And all this shooting around here I’m just tired Lord knows I am.”

The shooter is still at large. The girls mother says the nine year old has had multiple procedures.

“The first time she stayed in the hospital sevent days, the second time she was in there six days and she had a tube running form her head to drain all the infection out of her head," the mother said.

So, a simple gesture of one Thanksgiving meal goes a long way.

“It brought tears to my eyes because it makes me feel like the police officer is thinking about my child and my family and I thank them for that," the mother said.

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