The Eugene Police Department took over the kitchen at Saint Vincent de Paul’s Lindholm Center Wednesday, to serve up holiday meals to about 200 people in need.
Donning elf hats and reindeer antlers, EPD staff dish out plates of pulled pork, mashed potatoes and all the fixin’s to lines of hungry folks here on Highway 99.
Jeff Williamson currently lives in St. Vinnies' congregate tent shelter as he looks for an apartment of his own. When asked what he thinks of the police serving him a meal, Williamson said, “That’s great. It’s really great.”
This marks the seventh year for the EPD Holiday Dinner, with two years off during the pandemic. Officer Dave Clark has worked this beat in north Eugene for nearly 15 years and heads up the festive event.
“Everybody benefits from this. It feeds your soul,” he said.
The dinner guests at the Lindholm Center were treated to live music by Kevin Rothaar and Marilyn Bloch as they enjoyed meals donated by Texas Roadhouse and two local churches. The Bruns’ family of Bruns’ Apple Market made gift bags for the visitors. The bags included toiletries and other personal items.
Additionally, EPD started a collection of donations from its staff of adult jackets, hats, gloves, boots, or socks to give to the clients. Officer Davis said the donated winter wear includes recycled police uniforms (with patches removed.)
The St. Vincent de Paul Society of Lane County (SVdP) Lindholm Center provides hot showers, free laundry services, two meals a day year-round, a location to receive mail, social services, and a place to stay warm.
The Center also coordinates SVdP’s Dusk to Dawn, providing a year-round congregate tent shelter for unhoused individuals, and the Egan Warming Centers program, which provides people with warm places to sleep during periods of life-threatening cold.
