First North Carolina PBF Event a Success
On
Friday, November 9, 2007, the first inaugural Police Benevolent
Foundation event in North Carolina was held at the Matthews House in
Cary, NC.
Hosted by the Cary, Raleigh-Wake and Triangle Chapters of PBA, the
Foundation is a 501 (c) 3 non--profit public charitable arm of PBA which
provides aid to the families of our fallen members, scholarships to well
deserving youth and funding for law enforcement officers in times of
natural and man-made disasters.
In 2007 alone, the Foundation raised more than $250,000 for the families
of fallen officers and awarded fourteen (14) scholarships.
This year North Carolina has the tragic distinction of being ranked
second in the nation for officers killed in the line of duty.
The event was a great success and was attended by many area business,
legal and political leaders including Raleigh Police Chief Harry Dolan,
who flew back to Raleigh from a family event in Michigan just to be at
the event to honor our members and their families.
PBA was honored to have in attendance the wife and daughter (Connie and
Jessie Hale) of the late Raleigh Police Officer and PBA member Paul
Hale. Officer Hale was killed in the line of duty on July 11, 1997 where
he served as a detective. Also in attendance were the following: Senior
Associate Supreme Court Justice Mark Martin was the featured speaker.
Rep. J
ennifer
Weiss, Wake County Clerk of Court Lorrin Freeman, and Superior Court
Judge Paul Gessner were also in attendance. Newly elected Cary Town
Council Member Don Frantz and former Cary Town Council Member Mike
Joyce also enjoyed the evenings festivities. Newly elected Raleigh City
Councilman Rodger Koopman was also able to drop by briefly and show his
support.