Chesapeake deputies drop off holiday baskets to seniors in need

CHESAPEAKE, Va. (WAVY) — Bright and early Thursday morning, Chesapeake Sheriff’s Office deputies packed up their cop cars and headed out across the city.

They delivered 60 baskets full of food to seniors in need as part of their 32-year lasting holiday basket tradition. The baskets were donated from Walmart located on Hillcrest Boulevard.

“It’s so important to us in law enforcement that we interact with our community and a lot of times they see us on one side, in a negative manner. So, we want to always reach out to our community through our seniors and youth and show them we get into this line of work to help people,” said Chesapeake Sheriff Jim O’Sullivan.

While the deputies normally go inside the senior’s homes to drop the baskets off, this year for safety reasons, they opted to leave them outside their doors.

Each deputy’s temperature was checked as well as being checked for symptoms before they ventured out.

Dolores Chappell sells her artwork for a living but says COVID-19 has stopped many sales. Now, she says she’s facing possible eviction and this basket means a lot.

“Hot diggity! I want to not just thank you for this, but I want to publicly thank the Sheriff’s Department. Y’all have gone above and beyond what was needed this entire virus,” Chappel told a deputy.