ROANOKE, Va. (WDBJ) – The Roanoke City Sheriff’s Office held a Life Essentials Pop-Up event Wednesday near Elmwood Park, partnering with Food Lion, Roanoke City Libraries, and the Calm Clinic to distribute free toiletries, hygiene products, food, blankets, and cold-weather items to the city’s unsheltered population.
The Sheriff’s Office has held Life Essentials Pop-Up events for roughly the past year and a half, providing donated items at no cost to homeless residents. The event was previously held at Market Square. Wednesday marked the first time it was held near Elmwood Park, beside the Roanoke Public Library and the Elmwood Park amphitheater.
“We did change our location because, in talking with Roanoke Ambassadors for downtown, they were saying that this is a better location,” Sgt. Brandi Lazare of the Roanoke City Sheriff’s Office said. “A lot of our unsheltered population tends to hang out here. And so we wanted to meet our people right where they were so that we can give them the needs and meet them with the resources that we have.”…