“It’s a good day anytime you are able to do something for kids.”
This is Jailer R.W. Boggs talking about the Back to School backpack program the Fraternal Order of Police rolled out into each elementary school in Carter County.
“By the nature of our “business” every day is certainly not always a good day. So you have to savor these moments”. The FOP has raised money to help children in need. A lot of credit should go to longtime current and previous members who have worked to raise these funds. “We needed to decide how to best use the funds to help kids,” said Sheriff Jeff May. “It was decided that the FOP would start a backpack program in lieu of others possibilities like shop with a cop at Christmas or other options. You have to pick something and to our members this made sense and where we can make a good impact.
Boggs said that the members of the FOP have been very diligent in the efforts to get this program off the ground. “We have a great group of guys and everyone came to the table to get this done. Jeff May is our President and he has done an outstanding job along with Vice President Tony Cantrell and Treasurer/Secretary Shannon Blevins in securing the school supplies and backpacks for the program. I know Olive Hill Police Chief Bobby Hall and Dick Williams were big playesr in the raising of funds. All members have been very active in this effort and I don’t want to leave anyone out. The participating agencies in the local FOP are as follows: Carter County Sheriffs Dept, Carter County Detention Center, Grayson PD, Olive Hill PD, Carter County AttorneysOffice, Ky Fish and Wildlife, Ky Attorney General, KyAlcohol Beverage Control, and Ky Dept of Corrections.
The FOP would like to express its gratitude to our local Rite Aid and in particular Lori Knipp for going above and beyond helping us to secure the packs and supplies at a generous discount, and traveling to most of the Rite Aid’s in eastern Ky to make sure we had enough. If you would like to help support this program financially please contact Shannon Blevins at 606-255-0789. Our goal is to expand this program into all schools in Carter County to include the middle schools and high schools as well as to expand the number of supplies in each pack.
