The Spirit of Blue Foundation and Bushmaster Firearms International are again offering holiday wreaths to raise funding for law enforcement agencies.
The 2010 Spirit of Blue holiday wreath program helped enable the award of a Bushmaster Patrolman's Carbine to the New Berlin (Wis.) Police Department, Cedar Rapids (Iowa) Police Department; Chicago Police Department; New York Police Department; and Maine State Police.
"Bushmaster's partnership with the Spirit of Blue last year was invaluable," said Todd Parola, chairman of the Spirit of Blue Foundation. "As a newly formed non-profit with big dreams it was validating for Bushmaster to acknowledge the value of what the Spirit of Blue was trying to accomplish. But the true value they brought was in providing the product awarded to the five grant recipients and going above and beyond by matching our grant funds to essentially double the impact of the program."
Five non-profit organizations actively supporting the law enforcement community have teamed up with the Spirit of Blue Foundation for the 2011 holiday campaign that launched in October. Those organizations include the National Troopers Coalition, Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association (FLEOA), National Sheriffs' Association, Chicago Police Memorial Foundation and the Jeffrey S. Parola Foundation.
The groups represent about 125,000 officers, deputies and agents nationwide. As partners, they will promote the sale of the Spirit of Blue's blue-ribbon holiday wreath honoring and benefitting the law enforcement community. Consumers who purchase the product during the campaign will be allowed to select which non-profit they would like to see benefit from the sale. The foundation will donate a portion of the proceeds accordingly.
Consumers will also be asked to nominate a law enforcement agency they would like to be considered to receive a safety grant award. At the end of the campaign, the Spirit of Blue safety grant program randomly selects nominated law enforcement agencies to receive a safety grant award. The safety grants will be redeemable exclusively through the consortium of safety grant partners made up of law enforcement equipment brands such as Bushmaster Firearms.
The increase in line-of-duty-deaths by gunfire in 2011 has fueled the safety grant initiative to assist underfunded law enforcement agencies. A wreath can be purchased at the Spirit of Blue Website.
Related: Bushmaster Supports Spirit of Blue Holiday Wreath Campaign
