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The officer slipped out of his black-and-white police cruiser and strode up to a South Berkeley home. In his mouth, a caramel, sour apple lollipop, in his hands a 10-pound oven-stuffer turkey. 

Needless to say, the woman of the house was happy to see him. “This is a blessing for me,” Ruby Evans said. “It’s hard to have a nice holiday when you can’t afford a turkey.” 

On Tuesday, Berkeley Police, for the nineteenth consecutive year, put the service back into “To Protect and Serve,” handing out 250 Thanksgiving dinners to families in need throughout Berkeley—all earned by the blood, sweat and quadriceps of 11 officers on bikes. 

“This is the best day of the year,” said Lt. Bruce Agnew, who, along with Sgt. Alec Boga, founded the annual BPD Turkey Ride in 1994—a three-day, 216-mile September journey to South Lake Tahoe that raises money to feed Berkeley families on Thanksgiving and Christmas. 

It’s a long way from the winding mountain roads of the Sierras to the Public Safety building, where by 7 a.m. Tuesday about 60 volunteers including city workers, Berkeley Boosters, and high school students formed a half-block long assembly line, stuffing boxes with yams, onions, bread, canned food, stuffing and marshmallows to compliment the main course. 

The meals were enough to feed eight, with the fixings paid for by the $8,000 raised by the 11 bike riders from the Berkeley and UC Berkeley police departments and the turkeys donated by Safeway.  

Berkeley beat officers nominate the recipients, who are reviewed by the department’s Special Enforcement Unit to ensure that everyone is deserving. 

Going door-to-door can sometimes give police more than just a sense of satisfaction. 

Capt. Bobby Miller who has ridden on 16 of the 19 rides recalled one house several years ago where he found three young children “totally neglected,” while their mother “partied with her new boyfriend.”  

He sent Child Protective Services to remove the children for a few weeks, and came back around to check up after they returned. “I felt fortunate to know that the Turkey Ride had made life better for three small children,” he said. 

Tuesday’s scene was especially gratifying for the cyclists who got off to a tough start on this year’s ride. Before they made it to Martinez, retired Lt. Tom Grant tumbled from his bike, opening a gash on his leg that needed stitches. Later that day, a Ford Probe sideswiped Lt. Agnew, knocking off the car’s sideview mirror and bruising his hip.  

Officers must use vacation time to cover the ride, and they pay the $125 expenses out of their own pockets, but it’s all worth it when they get to hand out the meals. 

“It’s nice to drive up in a police car and give something to somebody,” Agnew said. “It’s not something we get to usually do.” 

And it’s much appreciated. “That they go through the trouble to do all that work and drive the turkey here, that’s a beautiful thing,” Evans said.