A Los Alamitos woman has been busy feeding police and other frontline workers after her husband, a police officer with the Los Angeles Police Department, was refused service while keeping order in Los Angeles during the weekend.
“It broke my heart,” said Allyson Brocoff, “I found out that my friend’s husband and several others were also denied service.”
Her husband is a police officer and has been in the front lines duringor the protests, working 16-18 hour shifts and overtime to protect citizens and businesses in downtown L.A., she said.
“Basically, here is my husband, working hard, 18-hour days, people rioting in the streets, deployed in the field and he is denied service at a restaurant,” she wondered?
“Restaurant and establishments were open but are refusing to serve police officers simply because they are police officers,” according to Brocoff, was shocking. “These brave men haven’t had a home-cooked meal in days,” she said.
Protesters seeking justice for George Floyd have staged protests around the country for the past two weeks, including locally (see related stories).
Lately, protesters have begun to chant “defund police” and apparently, said Brocoff, there must be some hostility towards police in Los Angeles if they are refusing to serve them. “I can’t believe it,” she said, adding that “it makes me so sad.”
Instead of getting mad, however, she took to Facebook and had her friend create a post asking for help. Within 24 hours, Brocoff said she had raised more than $5,000.
Partnering with Nick’s Deli, Olive’s Gourmet Grocer, Corsica’s Deli and Fork in the Road Catering, the group began to immediately feed more than 1500 frontline officers as the donations continued to pour in.
“It was awesome,” she said, even though all of the feedback about feeding law enforcement was not positive.
“Unfortunately, there was some really negative people,” said Brocoff, “saying ugly things about law enforcement.” But, she said, “that okay’s if this is not where their heart is.”
Brocoff said it’s been great supporting local businesses while feeding frontline professionals.
Now, with more than $10,000 raised, Brocoff is grateful to everyone who has contributed to feed the officers.
