Back Columbus Blue served up its 10th annual Christmas Appreciation meal to hundreds of first responders in Columbus. Co-founder of Back Columbus Blue Jed Harris said the luncheon is “to show appreciation and offer encouragement.” Assistant Police Chief Joyce Dent-Fitzpatrick told Now Network News “this is our first real Christmas party within the community, and it means that they are actually taking care of us today. That means a lot to us. We get served today,” she said.
The annual tradition started ten years ago with two friends at lunch. “The way this began, our friend Paul Voorhees we were sitting across from each other and I remember it was the summer of 2015 and there was a lot of unrest across the country concerning citizens and law enforcement and he looked at me and he said to me Jed, let’s see if we can do something to show appreciation for our Columbus Police Department. It started there,” Jed Harris recounted.
Ten years later others are asking how to create similar support for first responders in their communities. “We’ve had people not only from neighboring counties but from other states reach out and say can you advise us how to do that,” Harris said.
Back Columbus Blue also hosts an annual golf tournament, and they’ve raised enough proceeds to start awarding college scholarships this year to local law enforcement personnel and their families. Today’s luncheon at St. Luke’s Ministry Center was aimed at serving as many first responders as possible. About 450 meals were served.
