More than 350 people filled Minden Civic Center Saturday night to show support for Minden Police, fire and EMS by Minden Police Association.
Although the final numbers aren’t in yet, banquet organizer C.J. Cheatham said the banquet was a great success.
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.”
Special raffles were held by the Minden Police Association for Fire Departments and Emergency Medical personnel.
“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.”
