ST. CHARLES COUNTY, Mo. — Families in need across St. Charles County will be able to enjoy a Thanksgiving meal this year thanks to a local business owner and the St. Charles County Police Department (SCCP).

On Tuesday morning, SCCP drove a SWAT truck behind the Walmart in St. Charles, just off Veterans Memorial Parkway. Members of SWAT, the K9 Unit and other patrolmen picked up crate after crate of turkeys to load in the vehicle, totaling 280 turkeys. Each crate carried four 12- to 15-pound turkeys within. 

As part of an ongoing push to improve relations between police and the communities they serve, officers will distribute the hundreds of turkeys to the residents of the Sterling Heights Apartments and the Rolling Meadows Mobile Home Park in O’Fallon to help those families enjoy Thanksgiving. 

Ginger Glass, property manager of Sterling Heights Apartments, said she is grateful of the chance for all families to have a turkey on the table for Thanksgiving dinner. She mentioned many residents already have expressed excitement, joy and thankfulness to her. 

"I'm very much looking forward to seeing the smiling faces of the residents that come and receive their gift," Glass said. "You never know what's going on in a person's life, and to be able to see a family pick up a turkey and to be able to see their face and the gratefulness and the thankfulness, really says it all."

Glass thanked the SCCP and the local business owner for the donation. 

The turkey donation was a partnership between a local business owner who wished to remain anonymous and the SCCP Blue Line Family. 

The SCCP Blue Line Family is a nonprofit that looks to “mobilize the St. Charles County community through events and charity benefits, providing financial assistance, as well as mental health and wellness support to law enforcement, dispatchers and supporting staff,” according to the nonprofit’s website.