PIERCE TOWNSHIP, Ohio — An anonymous donor arranged for The Honey Baked Ham Company to deliver a full holiday-style meal to Pierce Township’s police and fire departments this month, catching both agencies by surprise.
The Honey Baked Ham Company delivered ham, turkey, buns, salads and cookies to the Pierce Township Police Department, which said in a Facebook post that staff were told the meal was funded by a donor who asked to remain anonymous.
“To whoever you are — thank you for your generosity, thoughtfulness, and kindness,” the department said in its post. “Gestures like this mean a great deal to our police officers and firefighters, and we truly appreciate you thinking of us.”
The department said it planned to share the food with the township’s firefighters, joking that the fire department would get “49%” of the haul.
Pierce Township’s police department is led by Chief Paul Broxterman, who was appointed to the post in February 2022 after 33 years with the Cincinnati Police Department. The township’s fire department, led by Chief Craig Wright since October 2013, traces its roots to a volunteer department founded in 1956. It now operates two stations with 43 firefighters and paramedics, serving about 18,000 residents across roughly 37 square miles, including a contracted service area in neighboring Ohio Township, according to the township.
The Honey Baked Ham Company was founded in Detroit in 1957 by Harry Hoenselaar, who patented a hand-operated spiral ham-slicing machine and built it into a business that now includes hundreds of retail locations nationwide, including several in the greater Cincinnati area.
The information contained in this story was obtained from the Pierce Township Police Department.