COLORADO SPRINGS — There’s a new non-profit launching in Southern Colorado, called the Pikes Peak 100 Reginal 100 club and there's an event happening this Friday evening in Colorado Springs, benefiting this new non-profit - that will eventually be caring of the families of first responders who lose a family member in the line of duty.
You can purchase tickets to the Behind the Badge dinner this Friday February 24th, for $55 dollars to support the Pikes Peak Regional 100 Club at the Pikes Peak Fire Chiefs Council's Facebook page (HERE)
One of the reasons I love about doing stories about first responders in our community is that even on what is a typical work day for them, they see and deal with hard things, that are unimaginable to most of us and on their worst day, the absolute worst can happen.
That's something Laura Morrison experienced in 2002, when her husband Rob a firefighter with the St. Louis Fire Department died in the line of duty, trying to save another firefighter lost in a two story commercial building fire.
Laura tells me, “I talked to him at 9 o'clock that night an hour before he died. You never know in any situation in life what will happen. My children were 8 and 11 and Rob was such a great dad. It was just a big, huge loss in our life. The time has gone by so fast, but in so many other ways I feel like it was just yesterday. After it happened I was trying to even figure out how I'm going to pay the bills with one less salary and who's going to help me with my children?"
Help came immediately through a group in St. Louis known as The Backstoppers.
Laura says “They paid off my mortgage right away and they also paid off a lot of other expenses that I had."
Stratmoor Hills Fire District Cheif Shawn Bittle moved to the Springs in 2020 from St. Louis and has seen The Backstoppers in action and is part of the push getting what will be known here as the Pikes Peak Regional 100 club up and running.
Chief Bittle explains, “The 100 club is a national organization. There's many chapters throughout the country. It's designed solely to respond to the needs of the families of first responders who are killed in the line of duty. So when we have an officer, or a firefighter that's killed in the line of duty, within 24 hours The 100 Club would be responding to the needs of the family with financial assistance.“
While there have been and will continue to be verified ways to financially support a fallen first responder’s family, the Pikes Peak Regional 100 club will always be fund raising to have funds on hand and ready if a tragedy strikes.
Chief Bittle says, “It's really hard for a first responder to go to work every day and do their job not understanding fully how their families are going to be taken care of if they have to give their lives in the line of duty. To have this safety net of The 100 Club as a resource for the spouses and the children that are left behind can really put a first responders mind at ease knowing that if - God forbid - something should happen, they are going to be well taken care of.”
Laura says, “I couldn't have done it without them (The Backstoppers). They supported my children and I immediately from the time that Rob died. They even helped pay my health insurance for the rest of my life. That is a really big thing as well.”
The annual Behind the Badge dinner in Colorado Springs will be raising money for the Pikes Peak Regional 100 club, this friday night in Colorado Springs at Weidner Field, there are still some tickets available if you want to come out and support this important cause.
You can purchase tickets to the Behind the Badge dinner this Friday February 24th, for $55 dollars to support the Pikes Peak Regional 100 Club at the Pikes Peak Fire Chiefs Council's Facebook page (HERE) It's sure to be a great time.
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