It’s a joke as old as time, cops eating donuts, but this time around it's actually for a good cause.
As a way to support United Way of Greater Lima, the Allen County Sheriff’s Office hosted their first ever donut eating contest.
"I thought this was great," said Erin Hardesty, incoming board chairman of the United Way of Greater Lima. "What better way to raise money with police officers than donuts? It was a lot of fun. Really appreciate Sheriff Treglia doing this for us. They raise $1,000 which is great, every little bit helps with the United Way. They had a lot of fun and so did we."
Max’s Trader Days and Water Dog Shows, Peacock Water, Lima Harley Davidson, Chief Supermarkets, Spallinger Millwright Services and Pat’s Donuts and Kreme stepped up to help raise $1,500. $1,000 goes towards the 2018 United Way campaign and $500 goes towards upgrades on the sheriff’s office workout room.
The contest was to see who could eat the most donuts in three minutes. Deputy Cory Lee took home the title of champion with five donuts.
"I think the competition was great we had a little bit of jabbing beforehand," Lee said. "Everybody was kind of gunning for me because I‘ve won a competition so I was getting everyone riled up. I had my own little set of ways of doing it. Didn’t tell anyone my secrets and start eating like I like. I love to eat."
As his prize, you guessed it, more donuts. Six chocolate filled sticks, but Lee thought United Way was the real winner.
"Tried to raise money for other things and this is just another avenue we decided to take and it’s for the United Way," said Lee. "We appreciate all the sponsors that helped out. Just to do something like this, even though it made fun of ourselves a little bit because you know cops and doughnuts, it was a great opportunity to help with the community and help raise money for the community."
The sheriff’s office and United Way hope to make this a continued tradition every year. Lee said if that’s the case he’ll surely return to protect his title.
