Hungry Family Fed Courtesy of 2 Deputies

A panhandler holding a sign on the corner of Bearss and Nebraska avenues earlier this week probably didn’t know her luck would soon change when she was approached by Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Deputy Jessica Dillon.

Dillon, at first, issued a standard verbal panhandling warning to the woman, who was carrying a sign that read: “Please help, need to feed family.” She told the lady her actions could get her arrested, the sheriff’s office wrote in an email to media.

Dillon then went on her way.

Later Monday night, Dillon encountered the same woman again. This time she was inside the restroom at the Wawa on the same corner. The woman, the sheriff’s office said, was talking on the phone.

“Deputy Dillon overheard part of the female’s conversation in which she was explaining to someone that she did not make any money for food,” the sheriff’s office email stated. “Deputy Dillon noticed the female’s voice and noted it was the same female who she had interacted with earlier in the shift.”

Realizing the woman wasn’t panhandling for the sake of just doing so, Dillon quickly enlisted the help of Deputy Chris Rose. The pair approached the woman, Melinda Vaughan, and asked her about her predicament. Hearing her story, Rose and Dillon took Vaughan to a nearby Walmart and bought food for the family, the sheriff’s office reported.

Photos courtesy of the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office