By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

COLUMBIANA – A group of five volunteers with the Chelsea Citizens Observer Patrol and the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program drew plenty of smiles as they entered the front door of the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office on the morning of Sept. 11.

Recreating scenes from their previous stops during the morning, the volunteers came bearing gifts in the form of freshly baked doughnuts.

“As a whole, we’ve made 32 drops, and so we’ve given away 61 boxes of doughnuts,” said RSVP volunteer Jess Rawls. “AARP, RSVP and the COPs were all involved, and Walmart was nice enough to bake them for us at a reasonable price.

“We’re not responsible for waistlines for this group,” Rawls added, drawing laughter from the volunteers and law enforcement officers in attendance at the ceremony.

RSVP originally planned to purchase and deliver doughnuts to a few police stations, fire stations and the SCSO, but when the COPs and AARP jumped in to help, they decided to greatly expand their efforts to all law enforcement departments and fire stations in the county.

“We were going to do two or three, but more people kept coming on board, so we finally said we’ll do all the EMTs, Sheriff’s Office and all the fire departments and police departments in Shelby County,” Rawls said. “We started about 6 this morning, and we’re about to make our last drop in about two minutes.”

Shelby County Sheriff John Samaniego said the surprise delivery served to highlight the support the organizations show for law enforcement every day of the year, and was a good reminder of the support emergency responders in Shelby County have seen since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.

“RSVP and COPs are both organizations that support the Sheriff’s Office 100 percent. We really rely on them to help us in the volunteer stage,” Samaniego said. “Both the COP and RSVP provide essential functions, and we really have a great relationship with both, and we hope it continues.

“The relationship between cops and doughnuts is a tradition, and I’m sure we’ll enjoy them,” Samaniego added with a laugh.