ADAMS COUNTY, Colo. — On Saturday, the Adams County Sheriff’s Office, in partnership with Mountain States Toyota, Waste Management, and Food Bank of the Rockies, will host Operation Freebird. This event provides food boxes, turkey vouchers, and health resources to community members in need.
“We have 1,560 Turkey vouchers and food boxes to give away. So, we're super excited. We were able to fundraise enough in order to secure that many food boxes from Food Bank of the Rockies, which is one of the partners that we work with in order to purchase the food boxes. Butterball is the other one that we partner with,” Nicole Narverud, Adams County Sheriff’s Office community relations manager, said. “There is a definite increase in need this year. We were anticipating increasing our numbers anyway, but we increased them significantly, knowing that those SNAP benefits were not being funded for a period of time.”
Narverud said the food boxes will help feed families for multiple days, not just Thanksgiving Day.
“We work really, really hard to purchase food boxes that provide multiple days’ worth of food, and that $20 goes toward a pretty nice-sized turkey, which then provides protein for a couple of days,” Narverud said. “No registration required. You do not have to live in Adams County; it's first-come, first-served. We try to serve absolutely everybody. So we do have people that line up as early as 5:00 that morning to be first in line."
Narverud said that after attendees receive their turkey, they can meet with vendors offering wrap-around services.
“They can get free dental screenings, free mental health screenings, free health screenings. We have first responders from Adams County Fire Rescue who will be there, too, and can show people how to do CPR or how to administer first aid. We also have resources from different organizations that provide people with access to housing resources,” Narverud said.
Operation Freebird will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, November 22, at Mountain States Toyota at 201 W. 70th Avenue in unincorporated Adams County.
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