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Our 2023 Blue Family Christmas Campaign and Gala is already building and we would like to invite you to join with us as a sponsor or guest at this year's gala. We are offering a variety of sponsorship options with many benefits included. We also have table and seats available for reservation and by clicking the link below, you can learn more about how to secure your sponsorship, table or seat at this incredible event. So don't miss out! The date is December 14 and the location is the Governor's Gun Club. The evening will be festive, and the cause is great. While this beautiful evening offers supporters the opportunity to celebrate the holidays with local law enforcement officers from various agencies in Cobb, we will also be raising money to help officers in need due to severe medical diagnosis. A portion of the funds raised will also be used to help fund our new campaign coming in 2024, that will address the need for mental health and wellness resources for our officers. (More info to come on that campaign, later)
Reservations and sponsorship information is available at: Our Event Website On August 21st, 2023, we hosted our first ever golf tournament at Brookstone Golf and Country Club in Acworth GA. This incredible day was sponsored by a group of wonderful folks including Willis Chiropractic, Roy Barnes and his Law Office, Mazi Mazloom Law, Tito's, LGE Insurance, Governor's Gun Club, Roger and Marilyn Watkins, Scott Dickerson/Southern Airflow, Jeff Parker, Atlanta Beverage, 1885 Grill, Marietta Diner, The Butcher on Whitlock, Maple Street Biscuit, Flying Biscuit, Commissioners Keli Gambril, Monique Sheffield and Joann Birrell, A Second Chance Bonds, Stockton Mortgage, Barbie Brown, Axon and many others. With sold out numbers, we had 30 teams enjoy a day of golf with breakfast and lunch provided along with about 60 raffle prizes and trophies for 1st, 2nd and last place, closest to the pin and longest drive. Many thanks to all our players, sponsors, volunteers and to our own Board of Advisors member, Bob ("Hey Baby") Pierce for organizing this event. For photos of the day, visit www.peacepix.smugmug.com/events. We look forward to doing this again next year! Tuesday August 15th, members of our Board of Directors, including Dpty Chief Steve Kucynda, Robin Kucynda, Kim and Doug Hill along with outgoing Director, Barry Little and Advisory Board member, Connie Burson presented memorials to the Cobb County K9 Unit. Also presented were oil paintings commissioned to memorialize K9 Ryker and K9 Chase. Their handlers, Officers E Barnett and C Neill received the paintings and memorials, while the Unit received duplicate memorials for the building. Also, Officer Joe Morgan presented a sketch of each K9 professionally done by Philadelphia Police Forensic Artist Jonny Castro, and Chief Vanhoozer said a few words before everyone enjoyed a BBQ lunch. Many Thanks to Justin Arndt Media for the awesome photos!
Thank you to our supporters who make these type events possible. On August 1st, Blue Thanksgiving was proud to be a part of the 40th anniversary of National Night Out, which is an annual community-building campaign that promotes police-community partnerships and neighborhood camaraderie to make neighborhoods a safer, better place to live. It is also an opportunity to heighten crime and drug prevention awareness. Agencies across the country come together with businesses, nonprofits and other agencies for an evening of family fun for the communities.
This year, we were happy to once again provide a photo opportunity for guests with a Cobb County Police squad car in a photo booth. Guests were able to take home photo strips to commemorate the evening. We also handed out bookbags, individual packages of cookies, chips, crackers and candies along with our logo badge stickers. Our directors CCPD Chief (ret.) Tim Cox and his wife Jenny, with Deputy Chief Steve Kucynda with wife Robin and daughter Emily were all in the BTI booth with Secretary Douglas Hill and President Kim Peace Hill. We also had Advisor, Dana Atwood helping man the booth. The weather cooperated and after a week of blistering muggy heat, the humidity dropped and there was a soft breeze to keep us cool A really great time was had by all who worked the event, as well as those who visited. We look forward to partnering again with CCPD in 2024 at this and other events. Monday, June 5th was a very sad day for officer Caleb Neil and the entire Cobb law enforcement family. Blue Thanksgiving was at the Active Shooter Training at Alatoona High School preparing to feed officers, when the energetic and positive day came crashing down when we learned that K9 Chase could not be saved. Our hearts go out to officer Neil and his family who are grieving this loss.
Officer Neil and his wife, Samantha have both been a part of our Thanksgiving Day meal project and have helped deliver meals to on duty officers in Cobb with us each year. We consider them members of our Blue Thanksgiving family and are heartbroken for them. The story as posted on media outlets from the Cobb County Police Department read as follows: On June 5, 2023, K9 Chase passed away in the line of duty. Chase was a Belgian malinois born in Hungary on August 13, 2018. Chase began his career with the Cobb County Police Department in April 2020 with his handler K9 Officer Neill. Chase was a dual-purpose K9 trained for narcotics detection, criminal apprehension, tracking, building searches, and evidence recovery. Chase seized thousands of dollars worth of illegal narcotics, with numerous arrests and apprehensions. Chase was named after fallen Locust Grove Police Officer Chase Maddox, who died in the line of duty on February 9, 2018, just months before K9 Chase was born. K9 Chase was in his kennel when the air conditioning system malfunctioned in Officer Neill’s patrol vehicle. Preliminary information indicates that other safety systems did not properly activate and the temperature quickly rose in the vehicle. K9 Chase was found unresponsive in the patrol vehicle by K9 Officer Neill. Life-saving measures were started by Officer Neill, other Cobb Officers, and Cobb County Fire personnel (also attending the active shooter training); K9 Chase was then transported to a nearby emergency veterinarian clinic. But the efforts were not enough to save him, and he succumbed to his heat-related injuries. K9 Chase was a beloved officer of the Cobb County Police Department and will forever be missed by us all. This year Blue Thanksgiving was contacted about feeding officers and other first responders attending the Active Shooter Training at Alatoona High School in Acworth. After six days of training officers, firefighters, EMT's, School police and other first responders, we are proud to say that we successfully provided approximately 800 burgers, dogs, bags of chips and more to about as many first responders in attendance. The food was good, and the attendees were grateful for the lunch they otherwise would not have received. We thank all our sponsors, and supporters for your donations. Without you, we couldn't do this type of work. Your support is appreciated by the officers we serve and all of us! And a huge "Thank You!" to the board members, volunteers and officers who helped cook the burgers and dogs, helped with set up, serving, and break down every day. We look forward to being a part of this event again next year!
The Cobb County Police Department Honor Guard will be making a trip to Washington, DC, for police week to honor the six Cobb County Police Officers whose names are forever carved on the Memorial of officers killed in the line of duty.
The Memorial features two curving, 304-foot-long blue-gray limestone walls. Carved on these walls are the names of more than 22,000 officers who died in the line of duty throughout U.S. history, dating back to the first known death in 1786. Blue Thanksgiving, Inc., has created a campaign and is accepting donations. Please visit the link above if you would like to donate. https://www.flipcause.com/secure/cause_pdetails/MTgyMDg1 |