BLUFFTON, S.C. (WSAV) — One Lowcountry police officer is spreading good cheer by handing out turkeys instead of tickets. It’s a tradition that started seven years ago and now, every Thanksgiving he collects turkeys to feed families in need.

Corporal Oscar Frazier Jr. is a Bluffton Police Officer and Resource Officer at Bluffton High School. He said he got the idea from guidance counselors at the school. At that time they were collecting non-perishables and told him that they had trouble getting people to donate turkeys.

“I learned that the other schools were also having issues in collecting turkeys,” Frazier said. “So I issued a challenge to the community of Bluffton to donate turkeys, and those turkeys would go directly to the Beaufort County School students.”

Thanks to donations, some of the students he sees every day will have a much-needed meal to look forward to on Thanksgiving Day.

“A lot of kids don’t realize, like, how well they have it. So when they see that there are people that are in need that way that they can help, it kind of inspires and motivates them as well,” Frazier said. “So I definitely like being in the school setting and allowing the youth to see that, you know, when people need help, that we can come together to help people.”

Last year he collected more than two hundred turkeys. This year like every other year, he doesn’t have a goal in mind. Just to simply get the food to the people who need it most.

His inspiration to help comes from knowing that it could’ve been him who needed a boost.

“Me and you could easily be in a scenario situation where we would need help and we would want someone to help us. We would want someone to, you know, kind of lift us up. And so that’s what it’s all about, is us being a community, helping people in their time of need.”

If you want to help out you still have time. You can drop a turkey off at Bluffton High School between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. any day until Friday.