A show of support for our police officers on the front line. A young boy in Killingly is making care packages for those officers with help from the community.
“He’s all about helping people and his favorite just so happens to be police,” Amanda Vinal said.
When 8-year-old Hunter celebrated his birthday this past January, instead of presents, he wanted to do something nice.
“He told me that he wants to be a police officer and that he wanted to deliver bags of kindness to police departments,” Vinal, his mother, said.
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That’s where Blue Line Care Packages started. Vinal says he’s helped make care packages for a number of local police departments near Killingly, including Connecticut State Police. She created a Facebook group and an Amazon wish list which got traction from the community.
“Everybody started flowing in with the donations and we were able to complete 50 bags for Montville,” Vinal said.
State police commended Hunter’s support saying, “his recognition and appreciation for his community first responders is truly remarkable.”
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“They have red and blue, my favorite color,” Hunter said.
Vinal says her son is an inspiration with this effort, pushing through despite battling Lyme arthritis, which can cause joint swelling.
Still, Hunter has done lemonade stands to raise money to create more care packages.
While donations have slowed, Vinal says the community response has been wonderful.
“Nobody wanted it to stop. They all want it to keep going and that’s exactly what we’re doing,” she said.
Vinal hopes she and her son can create a nonprofit one day to distribute more care packages across the state.
