ACWORTH
POLICE DEPARTMENT
Good Tidings We Bring to You BY WAYNE DENNARD
encourage everyone to keep an eye out for those in December is one of my favorite months. I love the our community who might be experiencing mental hustle and bustle of the holidays, the focus on joy and health struggles as well. This can be a difficult time goodwill, the time spent with family and loved ones, for many, and there are those and the way we all begin to plan who may need help and are for the coming new year with a unable, or unwilling, to ask for sense of hope. This month, the it. This season, many people Acworth Police Department is may feel especially lonely, so grateful for the opportunity to please check on your neighbors help families in our community and friends. A simple phone with our Christmas Shoppe and call can go a long way. If Miracle Tree. you or someone you know is Between Thanksgiving and struggling, there are resources Christmas, there will be toy and people available to assist. collection bins throughout the You can reach out to the police city. Once the toys have been department for assistance, or collected, we will set up our contact the National Alliance Christmas Shoppe in our training on Mental Health (NAMI) room, and families who are Helpline at 1-800-950-NAMI, experiencing financial difficulties or text NAMI to 741741. will be invited to “shop” at the I feel so blessed to live and department for gifts that have work in Acworth. Many of been donated from those in our citizens and businesses our community. In addition to are filled with a desire to serve Christmas presents, every family others, and that creates a strong we help will receive gift cards to sense of shared community a grocery store, so they can be for everyone. As we reflect on sustained through the holiday Community members are invited to select gifts off the this past year and all of the season. department’s Miracle Tree to help bless a family in the Acworth community. blessings God has bestowed We also will have our Miracle upon us, please keep our Tree set up in the lobby. The officers in your thoughts and prayers as they work in Miracle Tree is adorned with ornaments listing items, the jail and patrol the streets of our city. Please join me which are needed and wanted by members of one in praying for their safety and for their families to be family that is experiencing extreme hardship. Our staff filled with joy throughout the season. Merry Christmas! and the community are invited to pick out ornaments and provide specific gifts to the family. Through the Miracle Tree, we will be able to provide everything the family needs to have a complete Christmas, including gifts, food and even paying their monthly bills. Wayne Dennard has served as chief since 2012 and During this season, while we are working to care has lived in this community for more than 40 years. for families who are experiencing financial need, I AROUND ACWORTH | December 2021
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