Texarkana health care providers served some sweet appreciation with sprinkles on top to area police Wednesday.
At an event called Blue Bell for the Blue, employees of several long-term care facilities showed their support for area law enforcement officers by giving them ice cream.
Officers chose from vanilla and chocolate Blue Bell ice cream, sprinkles, various candies and blueberries to create custom, heat-beating sundaes.
Seven officers from Texarkana, Texas, Police Department, Bowie County Sheriff's Office and Miller County Sheriff's Department came to get a treat, said Heritage Plaza Community Liaison Tiffani Whitehead, who organized the event. Two others were on the way but had to respond to calls.
"We absolutely loved having them. Even if we had just reached one officer with our appreciation, we would do it all over again, but having the opportunity to express our gratitude to both counties and city law enforcement made it all worthwhile," Whitehead said.
TTPD Patrolman Dacota Taylor valued the gesture.
"It's great to know that people care about us. To hear that 'thank you' is an amazing feeling," he said.
Miller County Sheriff's Cpl. Phillip Hardemon saw Blue Bell for the Blue as an opportunity to make contact with members of the community and dispel negative media portrayals of law enforcement.
"We like getting out, talking to the public, hearing their concerns. People are seeing stuff on TV, making their minds up about us based on that, so it's good to show them the real thing," he said.
The event was one of several held in the area to show support for law enforcement after two recent incidents in which police officers were murdered. A sniper ambushed and shot 14 police officers, killing five, July 7 in Dallas, and a Kansas City man shot six officers, killing three, July 17 in Baton Rouge, La.
Whitehead expects to host similar events in the future, regardless of circumstances.
"While this event was to show our support due to tragic events across our country, we plan to continue to show our appreciation through regular events for our law enforcement and first responders," she said.