BEAUFORT, S.C. — The Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office and Beaufort Police Department will pack 300 Greg’s Groceries boxes on Tuesday, Oct. 13, for individuals and families experiencing food insecurity, working with the nonprofit Serve & Connect.
The event is at the Walmart Supercenter, 350 Robert Smalls Parkway, with remarks at 10 a.m. followed by packing. Neighbors in need can contact Serve & Connect law enforcement partner agencies to receive a box.
The program is named for Forest Acres police officer Greg Alia. He was a 32-year-old Forest Acres police officer when he was killed in September 2015. After responding to a report of a suspicious person, Alia chased him into the mall and struggled with him before the suspect shot him at Richland Mall in Columbia.
His widow, Kassy Alia, founded Heroes in Blue after his line-of-duty death. The group later took a new brand: Heroes in Blue is now Serve & Connect, with a refined mission to put more emphasis on the partnerships that empower, build trust, and create lasting impact.
Greg’s Groceries was created by Heroes In Blue in conjunction with Harvest Hope Food Bank and was founded in 2017. It gives patrolling officers boxes of food to hand out, and Serve & Connect counts over 25,000 boxes packed since 2017, or more than 2 million meals. Nearly half of recipients are youth, and over 50% of boxes delivered result in the recipient being connected to additional resources.
The goal is to create opportunities for positive, non-enforcement interactions between police officers and community members while fostering an environment that enhances trust, according to Serve & Connect.
