For 26 years now, Laurie and Kevin Horton have welcomed any and all Kansas City Police Department officers to their home for Christmas dinner.
Laurie has a neon “OPEN” sign that turns on starting at 2 p.m. on Christmas. It started when Laurie realized the officers needed a place to go for the holiday dinner.
“Their holiday meal was a hot dog from QuikTrip and that’s it,” Laurie said. “It broke our hearts. And Kevin said, ‘No, that doesn’t work for us, you need to come here.'”
It’s become a tradition for almost all of the officers, including Officer Jose Madera.
“It’s just nice to know that when we’re out answering calls for service and when we’re with the community that we can take a little bit of time away from there and stop in, and grab a quick bite to eat,” Ofc. Madera said. “She’s like a mother to all of us.”
Jack McCormick | KSHBLaurie never had kids of her own, but considers each one of them her children.
“Anytime anybody asks us if we have children, we say, ‘Yeah, about 12-hundred,'” Laurie said.