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HPD recognizes local businesses for Ike support
  
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By STEFANIE THOMAS
Hurricane Ike may have created a fuel shortage throughout the county and beyond, but at least the gas tanks of Houston Police Kingwood officers - their tummies, that is - remained full, thanks to numerous area businesses who helped feed the officers during their long shifts.
“The day before the storm hit, we were on an 18-hour shift and I went to Wal-Mart because we needed food for the officers,” said HPD Kingwood Division Sgt. B. Wilburn. “We knew we’d probably lose power and it would be hard to get some necessary items after the storm. Sandra Hibbits at the Kingwood Wal-Mart got a huge basket together for us - deli meat and cheese, loaves of bread, soda - and offered it to us at no cost.”
In fact, Wilburn presented a long list of organizations and businesses that showed support for the HPD Kingwood Division before, during and after the storm by keeping its officers well-fed. So much so, Wilburn chuckled, that some unnamed officers even put on a pound or two.
“I don’t know what it would have been like without them,” said HPD Kingwood Lt. C. Brown. “They donated stuff before the storm so we were ahead of the curve. My favorite was PBJs with strawberry milk. I ate so well during the storm, I had to fast afterward.”
Wilburn said that Kingwood and the surrounding communities stepped up in a big way. To name a few, the department received donations from Olive Garden, Pappas Seafood, Spring Creek Barbeque, Kingwood United Methodist Church, Pappasito’s, Monterey’s Little Mexico, H-E-B and the Jade Palace restaurant.
Like Hibbits at Wal-Mart, Olive Garden manager Eric Carter also refused to accept payment for food provided to the officers.
“He’s in Humble, and still he came through for us here in Kingwood,” Wilburn said. “We got all the good stuff - Alfredo dishes, bread sticks, the full service - and we appreciate it very much.”
Carter shrugged it off and said that he wanted the department to use its allotted FEMA money to pay for other things.
“What we could give, we gave,” Carter said. “We knew food was hard to find.”
At Pappas Seafood in Humble, manager Damien Rodriguez provided double the amount of food the police department paid for, much to the surprise of the officers who found themselves unexpectedly presented with an enormous amount of food, enough to feed all 45 day-shift and 35 night-shift officers.
A month after the storm, when things had returned to near-normal, Wilburn and HPD Kingwood Capt. R. Montgomery made their rounds to thank all those local businesses in person and present them with Hurricane Ike commendations.
“Your donation was a very nice gesture on your part,” Montgomery told Carter during an Oct. 13 visit to Olive Garden. “Your hot food helped us a lot. It kept up morale.”
Montgomery said that his officers suffered from power outages and damages at home like most residents everywhere, and the prospect of a nice meal was the only good news of the day for many on his staff.
“Coming to work and knowing we’d have a nice meal made the 12-hour shifts a lot better,” Brown agreed. “We just can’t thank them enough.”
“The day before the storm hit, we were on an 18-hour shift and I went to Wal-Mart because we needed food for the officers,” said HPD Kingwood Division Sgt. B. Wilburn. “We knew we’d probably lose power and it would be hard to get some necessary items after the storm. Sandra Hibbits at the Kingwood Wal-Mart got a huge basket together for us - deli meat and cheese, loaves of bread, soda - and offered it to us at no cost.”
In fact, Wilburn presented a long list of organizations and businesses that showed support for the HPD Kingwood Division before, during and after the storm by keeping its officers well-fed. So much so, Wilburn chuckled, that some unnamed officers even put on a pound or two.
“I don’t know what it would have been like without them,” said HPD Kingwood Lt. C. Brown. “They donated stuff before the storm so we were ahead of the curve. My favorite was PBJs with strawberry milk. I ate so well during the storm, I had to fast afterward.”
Wilburn said that Kingwood and the surrounding communities stepped up in a big way. To name a few, the department received donations from Olive Garden, Pappas Seafood, Spring Creek Barbeque, Kingwood United Methodist Church, Pappasito’s, Monterey’s Little Mexico, H-E-B and the Jade Palace restaurant.
Like Hibbits at Wal-Mart, Olive Garden manager Eric Carter also refused to accept payment for food provided to the officers.
“He’s in Humble, and still he came through for us here in Kingwood,” Wilburn said. “We got all the good stuff - Alfredo dishes, bread sticks, the full service - and we appreciate it very much.”
Carter shrugged it off and said that he wanted the department to use its allotted FEMA money to pay for other things.
“What we could give, we gave,” Carter said. “We knew food was hard to find.”
At Pappas Seafood in Humble, manager Damien Rodriguez provided double the amount of food the police department paid for, much to the surprise of the officers who found themselves unexpectedly presented with an enormous amount of food, enough to feed all 45 day-shift and 35 night-shift officers.
A month after the storm, when things had returned to near-normal, Wilburn and HPD Kingwood Capt. R. Montgomery made their rounds to thank all those local businesses in person and present them with Hurricane Ike commendations.
“Your donation was a very nice gesture on your part,” Montgomery told Carter during an Oct. 13 visit to Olive Garden. “Your hot food helped us a lot. It kept up morale.”
Montgomery said that his officers suffered from power outages and damages at home like most residents everywhere, and the prospect of a nice meal was the only good news of the day for many on his staff.
“Coming to work and knowing we’d have a nice meal made the 12-hour shifts a lot better,” Brown agreed. “We just can’t thank them enough.”
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