Happy New Year!
It’s hard to believe that 2017 is behind us. It was a challenging year in Central Indiana where the dangers and realities of being a law enforcement officer were prevalent. Southport PD’s Lt. Aaron Allan’s service to the community was relentless and his loss on July 27th was devastating. Likewise, the accidental death of IMPD Deputy Chief Jim Waters (also on July 27th) was a tragic loss to this community—his decades of service lost but not forgotten. Their legacies lift up the men and women in blue who carry on their great work.
Not only was there loss of life, but there were injuries, too. An officer’s career-ending accident in 2016 continues to plague his family as they struggle to move forward financially. Another officer’s entire family was in an accident bringing not just the physical and emotional hardship, but financial, as well. The Foundation worked to provide assistance at critical moments; however, the needs remain for these and other families facing financial hardship.
Our Foundation has seen a great deal of change this year. New efforts to raise both funds and awareness for the work of the foundation and mid-year, a name change. Then Indianapolis Police Foundation became the Central Indiana Police Foundation (CIPF). The Foundation had always served communities around Indianapolis, but this name change was intended to ensure our smaller communities that we are working to support them, too.
Furthermore, CIPF kicked off its inaugural fundraising event. “Thanksgiving Breakfast with a Cop” was a great start to what we expect will be an annual event. Thanks to the generosity of the Indianapolis Colts who provided the facility and food for the event, officers from throughout Central Indiana joined business leaders to share breakfast, learn a little about the foundation, and to be lifted up by the inspirational words of local hero, Josh Bleill.
In the coming year, CIPF will celebrate its Fifth Anniversary fostering community-wide support for law enforcement by supporting traumatically injured officers and their families, providing supplemental resources for officers in the line of duty, and building positive officer-community partnerships. Our primary focus continues to be our “Code 1” Fund (an officer needs assistance). Obviously, however, there will always be a need for K9s, equipment (InVest in Blue Fund), and community engagement (Behind the Lines Fund), and we will continue to support those needs.
In 2017, thanks to your generosity, CIPF provided Code 1 funding to 7 officers and their families, provided trauma kits to the Warren Township School Police Department, and supported a variety community engagement activities including purchasing 17,000 Easter eggs, supporting officers at the Special Olympics Polar Plunge, supporting the Carmel FOP Thanksgiving outreach, and sponsoring various youth projects like the Gun Safety Poster contest, IMPD’s Mountain Bike Park and the Indiana Sheriffs’ Youth Ranch. We also sold more than 1,000 shirts in support of Lt. Allan’s family (we still have a few left; they are now on sale. Find them here). The K9 Association was able to purchase 3 dogs and conduct extensive training. Also, through a special grant, they received ballistic vests for their K9s.
With all of this said, we hope you will continue to support our efforts. Your donation will allow us to expand our reach to smaller Central Indiana agencies to ensure officers throughout the area are supported when they need it. Please visit us from time to time at www/cipf.foundation and on Facebook to see some of our activities and feel free to make a donation anytime!
If you’ve made a donation recently, we thank you and hope you will remember us again in 2018. With your help, we will continue our efforts to support law enforcement as they work to keep us safe. Watch for details about upcoming activities like Brackets for Good in March and Walking for Dreams on May 20, 2017. And the date for our second Breakfast with a Cop event will be announced soon!
Best wishes for a wonderful New Year!
Kathy Mance O’Brian
Executive Director
