CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — February’s KRIS 6 Angel did not want to be on camera. In fact, he does not want any attention on him.
So how do we tell you the story of someone who has helped out people in our community for over 40 years without telling you who he is?
Our Katia Uriarte enlisted the help of Corpus Christi Police Department Senior Officer Javier Cantu.
You see, officer Cantu knows this month's KRIS 6 Angel, who we will call Bob, and as a matter if fact, his first name is Bob! For the last 15 years, officer Cantu and Bob have worked side by side along with numerous CCPD officers.
Every year, Bob funds Christmas baskets for people in our community who are struggling. The families get three boxes full of groceries plus toys, and the deliveries happen every Christmas Eve.
Bob has been doing this for 43 years. CCPD officers have been helping him for 25 years, letting him know which families may be struggling from their patrols. It’s called Police Officers Christmas Angels.
“He (Bob) would just raise money and have some friends help him raise money and on Christmas Eve, he would run into a couple of officers and say ‘hey do you know of a family who needs food baskets?’ and he'd go deliver food baskets to these families. That's how he started,” said Cantu. “Now, each year, I reach out to him and make sure he is still doing it and he said ‘man, I'm going to do this ‘till the day I die. And even then, I got other people who are going to continue following on with the tradition.”
Officer Cantu sends out an email to officers and waits for the replies. And boy do those replies come in.
This year, these food baskets were delivered to 135 families.
A current CCPD officer was a recipient years ago when he was a kid.
“Bob was telling me that he was driving around with one of the officers and I don't remember his name but he said when he was younger he was actually a recipient of the food baskets, which shows that all walks of life are getting this assistance.," Cantu explained. "It's not just for people who don't have it, but for people who are just getting by sometimes. Who you know are going to make it, but struggling.”
Cantu says his officers go around the city making calls every day, "and when they see these families, they remember them, and come Christmas time, I put out an email and say ‘hey guys y’all got any families that could benefit from the food basket?’”
“It got to the point where I was at 130 (families) and I called Bob and said ‘can we go more or do we need to cut back?’ and he said ‘don't ever cut back a family. We'll take care of it.’ So we actually helped 135 families this year.”
So to Bob, February’s KRIS 6 Angel, we here at KRIS 6 News say thank you for everything you have done for the last four decades to provide for families in our community who need help, especially on Christmas Eve.
