Every Christmas for thirteen years, the safest place to be in America has been the home of a Kansas City metro woman. That’s because the kindhearted woman opens her house each year to Kansas City Police Department officers working on the holiday, so they can enjoy a delicious, home-cooked feast.
Laurie Horton works at the Kansas City Police Department as an operator in the records unit and has been nicknamed “Mama Horton” among officers who consider her family.
She has an open-door policy every Christmas from 2-11 p.m. for each and every Kansas City police officer who is spending the holiday patrolling the streets.
Via Fox 4 News
Horton spends hours in the kitchen preparing a holiday feast of two hams, four 24-pound turkeys, and a whole lot of fixings.
“It`s amazing,” Officer Evan Tarwater said with a laugh. “All of it. It`s good!”
It’s Horton’s way of saying thank you to the men and women in uniform who often spend holidays away from their families so they can protect yours.
“They see so much and they have to live with so much,” Horton said. “They want to be part of the community. They want to make it better. They want people to be safe. They want people to feel loved, and I think they need this in return.”
Officer Tarwater told Fox 4, “She’s just so nice. She’s one of the nicest ladies that we’ve ever met, not just at work, just all around, so she’s like family.”
The feeling is mutual.
“There are no expectations here. There’s no judgement here,” says Mama Horton. “Everybody who walks through the door is greeted with a hug and love, because that’s how we honestly feel about them.”
Horton served more than 80 officers last Christmas according to Fox 4. She has an open-door policy for on-duty cops every Thanksgiving, too.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member