Lions Club partners with Shield 616 for local law enforcement safety

    Showing solid support for the safety of local law enforcement officers, Holyoke Lions Club is partnering with Shield 616 to fundraise to provide all officers in Phillips County with a Shield 616 armor package involving protective gear.
    The campaign idea started several weeks ago when local residents Ivan and Julie Wiebke saw a news report about the Shield 616 program that was formed in response to the loss of life of law officers in Colorado Springs.
    Ivan met with Holyoke Police Chief Doug Bergstrom and Officer Joe Marcum to see if there was a local need for improved safety protection.
    Bergstrom said HPD officers currently have vests that are designed to stop handgun threat, but they are not rifle-rated vests.
    “It made me feel blessed that I live in a community that has people who want us to be protected,” said Bergstrom.
    He and Marcum emphasized in their conversation with Wiebke that if a fundraising program were started, they wanted to see it benefit all law enforcement in the county. This would include Haxtun Police Department and Phillips County Sheriff’s Office, as well as Holyoke Police Department.
    “We were all touched about the fact that our community cares about our protection,” said Bergstrom for the three law enforcement agencies.
    
Shield 616 based on Scripture
    When organized, Shield 616 was based on Ephesians 6:16: “Take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.”
    Shield 616 was formed with two goals in mind — to get local officers better gear and better protection against rifle threats and also to help break down the barrier that exists between local law enforcement and citizens.
    An armor package includes a ballistics helmet, plate carrier vest, rifle-rated armor and a gunshot wound trauma kit.
    The full armor packages cost $1,400 per officer. With a total of 12 officers in the three Phillips County law enforcement agencies, a fundraising endeavor in the amount of $16,800 is underway.
    Contributions toward an armor package may be designated for a specific officer or local agency or may be given to the Phillips County effort in general.
    Checks may be made payable to Holyoke Lions Club, with “Shield 616” in the memo, and sent to Holyoke Lions Club, c/o Fletcher (Gene) Hinck, 210 S. Phelan Ave., Holyoke, CO 80734.
    Or, online donations may be sent directly for the Phillips County officers through the following website: http://newhorizonsfoundation.com/1714.
    As part of the second goal of Shield 616, donors are asked to act as an encouragement/support system for the officer whom they donate to.
    The ultimate goal is for the sponsor to create a relationship with their officer to encourage, support and pray for their officer and family.
    Lions Club member Caryl Harvey, who is also Bergstrom’s mother-in-law, said she is very excited for this program and the community support it is generating.
    With a son-in-law, daughter, granddaughter and grandson-in-law in law enforcement, Harvey emphasized how an officer shooting impacts their family.
    Shield 616 is especially exciting for Harvey because of its faith base. “It’s not just the financials but the encouragement for people to adopt an officer to strengthen relationships between officers and the communities they serve,” she added.
    Wiebke said he is pleased that several people in the Haxtun and Holyoke communities have expressed support for this. He hopes that if the endeavor is successful, that other communities might see the opportunity to take on such a project.
    He sees this project not only as encouragement for well-qualified and dedicated officers but also a tool for encouraging those officers to stay in the community and to help recruit others when needed.
    While the protective equipment will be designated for specific officers, the gear will actually be the property of the law enforcement department itself. So if an officer should leave the force, the gear would stay with the local department.
    Phillips County is a relatively safe place to live and raise a family, and the local law enforcement officers play a vital role in keeping it that way.
    However, they put their lives on the line numerous times throughout the year in responding to drug trafficking, domestic violence and other dangerous situations.
    The community partnership to fund lifesaving protective gear for the officers who serve is a great opportunity to show support.