Morgan County Sheriff Ron Puckett and his deputies are taking seriously their duty to the community they serve. Their main job, of course, is to uphold and enforce the law. In addition, however, they set out May 6 to do good and spread hope to the most vulnerable residents of Morgan County.  

According to MCSO spokesman Mike Swafford, members of the Morgan County Sheriff’s Office worked with the Hartselle Senior Center to deliver a month’s worth of food to seniors in Hartselle, Somerville, Union Hill, Falkville and Decatur. Swafford said more deliveries will be happening in the coming weeks.  

Steve Griffin, who works as the manager of the senior center, said the shelf-stable meals are provided through the Morgan County Commission on Aging and the North Central Alabama Regional Council of Governments.  

This isn’t a new endeavor for the MCSO, either. Swafford said deputies have been delivering groceries through the center since the first shelter–in–place order from Gov. Kay Ivey.  

“We delivered hot meals at the end of March for two to three weeks, then we did the box drop,” Swafford said. “In mid-April we did what we’re doing today, which is a month worth of food. These are gaps we can fill, and we’ve been able to have that labor to meet these needs.” 

The MCSO, together with Morgan County school resource officers, delivered 120 cases of food May 6. “Each senior gets four cases, so basically 28 meals,” Swafford said.  

Early on, when essentials could not be found, Swafford said deliveries included household items and essentials through the critical needs request list. “We partnered with First Baptist Church and a couple other (area churches) and focused on meat, toilet paper, milk and water.”  

Swafford said the MCSO received about 60 requests the department was able to meet through the list.  

“We don’t really create the thing; we just get it where it needs to go,” he said. “We don’t have much to do with the process or program; we’re just the labor.”