Tuesday was a good day to be out on filling up your gas tank in Oceanside.
Officers with Oceanside Police Department were on a mission to help drivers with rising gas prices, handing out $50 bills to help drivers deal with pain at the pump, KTLA sister station KSWB reported.
“I have to pay for this pump and this truck and I get like 8 miles a gallon so I’m paying like $300 a week,” driver Dylan Garcia said.
“It’s hurt a lot, you know. It’s taking away from everything else,” driver Steven Zufall said. “It’s hard to go to eat now. It’s hard to afford everything and just getting around.”
But today was Garcia’s lucky day.
Oceanside officers gave away a total of $1,500 to unsuspecting drivers like Garcia and others just looking to fill up their tank. The law enforcement agency recently received a $20,000 grant from Trauma Intervention Programs, Inc. to make this possible.
“It’s a cool experience to get out in the community and make people smile and serve in a different way,” said Oceanside police officer Andy Gularte.
They plan to spread out this grant for operations like this throughout the year to help drivers stay on the road.
“This is going to help in so many ways, I’m very thankful,” driver Esther Mendez said.
Oceanside police plan to conduct other similar giveaway operations every month.
