Fallen Officers Food Drive raises food for neighbors in need, honors local law enforcement

The Fallen Officers Food Drive in Lower Burrell serves two purposes: to collect food for neighbors in need and to honor local police who have died in the line of duty.

Hosted at Mogie’s Irish Pub in Lower Burrell, the annual food drive is in its fifth year, said Leslie Uncapher Zellers, who co-founded the event with her fiance, Terry McClain.

The pair first held the event in the wake of Brian Shaw’s death in November 2017. The New Kensington police officer was fatally shot following a traffic stop.

“The shelves at food pantries are pretty bare after the Christmas holidays,” Zellers said. “We were thinking of a way we could get food for our local food pantry and honor our law enforcement at the same time.”

The event also recognizes Lower Burrell patrolman and K-9 officer Derek Kotecki, who was ambushed and killed by a fugitive in 2011.

Zellers said both were “such community-involved officers.”

“What better way to honor them?” she said.

Beginning this year, the food drive also will honor slain Brackenridge Police Chief Justin McIntire, who was fatally shot Jan. 2. Zellers said she got the McIntire family’s permission to add his name to their event.

“It’s a very poignant reminder to everyone how precious life is and how important law enforcement officers are to our community,” Zellers said.

The food drive ran from 10 a.m. till 5 p.m. Saturday, as people stopped by the restaurant’s parking lot to drop off food or monetary donations.

“We try to fill a box truck (with food),” said David Magill, owner of Mogie’s Irish Pub.

They had collected about 45 banana boxes of various food, plus several cases of water by around 2 p.m.

“We’ve enjoyed such a tremendous amount of community support, and we are so grateful to everyone who comes out,” Zellers said. “This is a tough time after the pandemic and with the increasing prices of everything, in what it costs to feed a family. More and more people are relying on the food bank to supplement what they can afford.”

Cash donations go to the Westmoreland County Food Bank, while the food items are sent to St. Margaret Mary Church in Lower Burrell. The church operates a food pantry that serves Lower Burrell and surrounding communities.

The church gets a monthly food shipment from the county’s food bank, Zellers said, but they also accept donations to stock their own food pantry, where people who need food can go to find additional items to supplement the staples provided by the food bank.

“Anybody who is in need can come,” she said. “It’s a pretty big distribution.”

Zellers said they wanted to keep the food donations local to support neighbors in need.

The food drive also shows local law enforcement that the communities they serve support them, Magill said.

“We’re doing it because this is a veterans and law enforcement establishment,” Magill said, pointing out images honoring veterans and police adorning the walls. “We do it to show law enforcement our support. We want to show them we’re behind them as a community.”

Zellers said it’s gratifying to see so many people show up to support law enforcement.

“Our police officers are our neighbors, they’re our coaches, they grew up with our kids or our parents,” she said. “They’re people we know.”

This year’s event took on an added significance, Zellers said, after McIntire’s recent death.

“This is our way to honor our fallen police officer heroes,” she said.