Lt. Patty Simons Law Enforcement Food Drive Completes 18th Year

This year brought the 18th Annual Lt. Patty Simons Law Enforcement Food Drive to the Salvation Army’s Norristown Corps on Swede Street on Thursday morning, where law enforcement pitched in with other volunteers to unload donated food, toys and clothes and bring them to the Salvation Army building, where they will be distributed to those in Montgomery county who need them.

This was the culmination point of law enforcement, the public, firefighters and businesses collecting food, toys and clothes, which were taken on Wednesday for a trip to the Salvation Army on Thursday, where they was brought to the Swede Street building.

The drive is named for Lt. Patty Simons, Norristown's first woman police officer, who was instrumental to the success of the food drive when it started, until she passed away due to breast cancer in 2007.

The drive is done in collaboration with the Greater Norristown Police Athletic League (GNPAL), based in Norristown, and Executive Director Brett E. Wells was there Thursday, running about.

Lt. Patty Simons’s mother, Mary Simons, attends the event every year. She stood on the Salvation Army steps on Thursday, happily watching the law enforcement volunteers unload a flatbed truck as Santa stood nearby. “This is just a big event for Norristown,” she said. “They start in the beginning of the season and they were here last night packing boxes.”

Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman came for the event, chatting happily with participants.

Some of the volunteers included officers from Norristown, Plymouth Township and Upper Merion, as well as Montgomery County Sherriff’s Department deputies, according to a Montgomery county courthouse security officer, who was cheerfully pitching in.

Matthew Kelly, Chairman of the Salvation Army’s advisory board, also helped carry the goods to the building. According to Kelly, this might provide up to 100,000 meals, including Christmas dinners. “This stocks our pantry. We help feed the people of Montgomery county,” he said.