FARMINGTON — Armed with family-friendly games, officers at Franklin County Detention Center prepared to make a special donation to the Western Maine Homeless Outreach on Monday.

Eleven corrections officers and two transport officers purchased games for the shelter after deciding at a union meeting that they wanted to do something for the community, Cpl. Phillip “Phil” Richards said.

The decision may have occurred during a National Correctional Employees Union meeting, but “they took it out of their own pockets,” Sheriff Scott Nichols said.

Each officer purchased a game or two, which they stockpiled at the jail untill Monday, Richards said.

They wanted to do something for the new shelter, the first in Franklin County, opened in November at the Living Waters Assembly of God Church on the Wilton Road in Farmington.

The intention was to buy toys for children staying there, Richards said. 

With the children covered by Operation Santa Claus for gifts, Emily Chaney, shelter volunteer coordinator, suggested it would be better to buy some games that could stay there for families to use while they are there, he said.

The officers have discussed other ways to promote public relations, including forming a Relay for Life team and other projects, he said.

abryant@sunjournal.com