Oasis Assists Those Who Protect and Serve

| March 2, 2012 | 0 Comments

AT LAPD WILSHIRE station, Ashley Abercrombie,Shunna Jones-Moreno, Alex Jones-Moreno, Capt. Eric Davis and Brandy Chagolla.

Oasis Church outreach director Ashley Abercrombie thinks our local police force could use a little TLC. So do the 60 volunteers who join her one Saturday a month at the LAPD Wilshire Division to sweep floors, clean lockers and plant flowers. They make name badges and have assisted Capt. Eric Davis create a webisode.

“I have found that people want to serve the community in a practical way,” said Abercrombie.

She and volunteer leader Brandy Chagolla joined the Police Advisory Board a year ago and some months later presented their offer to help division headquarters.

“We do whatever is needed,” said Abercrombie, adding she doesn’t actually know what she’s going to do till she gets there.

Community liaison officer Bob Rothman splits Oasis members in groups charged with sweeping the street to cleaning locker rooms. Church member Peter Nichols headed production of the webisode, while members of the church’s Adopt-a-Block program handed out 50 bags of groceries to area residents.

There are 250 police officers serving a populace of 200,000. “What in the world? We have to help these people,” thought Ashley, when she realized the challenges men and women in uniform face, especially in light of economic-induced budget cuts.

“We’re grateful to them, and we know it’s not easy being a cop in L.A. These are really great guys. We want to help.”

Church outreach also includes tutoring students at Burroughs Middle School and weekly visits to Alexandria House, a transitional home for women and children.

For more on the 30-year old church on Wilshire Blvd. near La Brea Ave. visit oasisla.org.

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Category: People

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