Kiwanis plan support for Reinforcement Foundation
The Kiwanis Noon club met Wednesday at League Street Church of Christ this week and heard from Tamara Williams, founder of Reinforcement Foundation. The Reinforcement Foundation‘s mission is to make a difference in the lives of first responders, their families and the organizations that are dedicated to protecting and conserving life.
They want to support the local First Responders of Hopkins County, especially the volunteer firefighters and their organizations. She stated that the cost of a new volunteers Personal Protection Equipment is around $5,000 per person. Sometimes the outlying area stations have a hard time raising funds to support new personnel.
The groups’ goal is to help first responders out financially, with medical expenses, treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), provide scholarships to students who want to pursue positions as a first responders or their children.
The first big event fundraiser they will be doing is a golf scramble. They are looking for sponsors, players, volunteers for the event and donations. The event will be held Friday, June 10 at the Sulphur Springs Country Club.
There will be a banquet dinner at 5:30 p.m., with a celebrity speaker and band after dinner. The first group they plan to support is the Cumby volunteer fire department and Hopkins County Emergency Management System. The plan to allocate 90% of funds between those two groups. In the future they will accept applications in the coming years.
The organization plans to keep all the funds raised in Hopkins County, and their supporting EMS groups. They would also like to help organizations such as Operation Mutt 22 who help support the veterans at home and overseas.
If you would like to learn more about Kiwanis or the Reinforcement Foundation please reach out to Dave Froneberger david.froneberger@gmail.com or Tamara Williams at contact@reinforecemnetfoundation.org.
Contributed by Allison Libby-Thesing
