Building on its inaugural success, Minden Police Association is hosting another banquet fundraiser Saturday August 15 at Minden Civic Center.
According to banquet organizer C.J. Cheatham, last year’s banquet was a great success and a lot of fun for everyone.
“We’ve had people ask throughout the year if we would do it again because they enjoyed it so much,” Cheatham said. “Many do love to show their support for law enforcement, and we welcome it with open arms and enjoy giving back to the community.”
The money raised goes toward community outreach and events throughout the year, supplies such as food and water in the event of long manhunts and search warrant executions (MPA supplied groceries to Minden Police officers during the week of the ice storm) awarding heroic efforts, extra training opportunities that may be outside of police budget.
“MPA can also help update SRT (Special Response Team) equipment that has a shelf life,” Cheatham said. “Some equipment does not and cannot last forever. I would like to add scholarship awards in the future for our high school seniors who are looking to start a career in law enforcement.”
Doors open at 5:30 p.m.
Kyle Towns will serve as auctioneer for the evening. Dinner is catered by Hugh Wood with Jambalaya, green beans, Natchitoches meat pies and bread pudding (chicken strips and fries for the kids). Tickets are available at the door: $25 for entry; drink armbands are $20.
“We have numerous door prizes again this year,” Cheatham said.
Some raffle/auction items include Browning Gun safe, Antler Shed Deer Blind, grill, crawfish cooker, custom cornhole boards, solo stove, college football tickets, fish fryer, Yeti coolers and more.
There are raffles for the kids and plenty for the ladies,.
“We have 14 guns total as of now – 12 guns will be raffled,” she said.
Two guns are specifically for first responders in attendance. One gun raffle is specifically for all law enforcement in attendance. The second is for all Fire and EMS in attendance. No raffle purchase required for them.
“We know how hard they work and this job takes its toll,” Cheatham said. “We wanted to do this as a ‘thank you’ and ‘we see you, too’ by not requiring a ticket for these. It doesn’t matter where they work, if they are a sworn officer or fire or EMS, they get a ticket.”
The banquet is made possible by many donors and sponsors.
“They get all the credit for this,” she added. “We couldn’t do any of this without them. It’s a lot of work but so worth it.”