OVIEDO, Fla. — Law Enforcement Appreciation Day may have been Saturday, but Sunday one central Florida community is finding a way to thank the men and women in blue who serve our community. 

Along with distributing blankets and meals for those in need, the Sikh Society of Central Florida also packaged up meals Sunday for law enforcement agencies around the region.  For the Sikh community, it's a small gesture from a desire to help that comes to the core of their faith. 

“Whatever little we can do to help the community, even one day, one meal, will be helpful to those people,” said Amit Singh Saini, Chairman of the Sikh Society of Central Florida. 

Despite the cold Sunday morning, those driving up to the Sikh Society of Central Florida are greeted with a warm welcome. 

For months, they’ve been providing hundreds of free meals every Sunday to make sure their community doesn’t go hungry in the pandemic. This week,. they wanted to do the same for law enforcement. 

“We had to put the word out, we had to appreciate them because they put their lives at risk to save us,” Singh Saini said. 

Too often, Singh Saini said, the police can be often unfairly targeted because of their uniforms. As a Sikh, he feels a kindred spirit as they’re often targeted too because of the turbans they wear.

“It’s a saying, 'If you are in trouble, go look for a Sikh, they will help you,'" he said. "Similar to cops here, most of the time when you are in trouble, you look for the cops and they stand out because of their uniform. And they can become victims of those attacks as well."

So along with meals and warm blankets for those in need, on Sunday hundreds of meals were packed up and sent out to sheriff’s deputies and police around the region, simply hoping to feed the men and women in blue. 

"Our faith is based on volunteering and hard work," Singh Saini said. 

In a pandemic that’s forced many to spend so much time apart, both law enforcement and Sikh community here are glad to find a good reason to come together. 

“Adversity, it brings the best out of us,” Singh Saini said. 

The Sikh Society of Central Florida says for those in need of a meal during this pandemic, they offer freshly cooked vegetarian meals that can be picked up Sundays from 10 a.m. to noon.   They also invite anyone with questions about Sikhs or their faith to come out and have a conversation with them. 

For more information or to keep up with different events hosted by the Sikh community for central Florida, follow them on Facebook or visit their website.