| The log reads “End of Watch, April 13”. Earlier he had kissed his wife and 3 children good-bye and started his watch on another “routine” workday. Just hours later the call came, “Station 43, Unit 12, 999. Officer down! Shots fired!”(999 is the radio code for “any agency -officer down needs assistance”).
Mortally wounded, shot in the head by a suicidal man who then took his own life, Newport Beach Police Officer, Robert Joseph Henry, left behind a wife and three children, his parents, a sister and brothers, and many friends. He was just 30 years old.
For more than 50 Orange County fallen officers, the stories of their untimely deaths may all be different: “killed whiled attempting to subdue an escaped felon…shot in his patrol car…shot chasing a burglary suspect… killed in a narcotics raid”…but each has died in an effort to protect the lives, livelihood, and property of people like you and I, living and working in Orange County.
Like every other officer, sworn to Protect and Serve, no matter how diligently they train or how prepared they are, they and their families know that tragedies like these can happen. Families are left to cope with funeral expenses, children who need to be cared for, and grieving widows or widowers suddenly find themselves the sole caregivers and breadwinners for their families.
We ask that you join us in helping the families of police officers through difficult times by becoming a sponsor of the Project 999 – Memorial Ride. There are various ways you can help… through sponsorships of the Project 999 Memorial Ride, by sponsoring a rider, through donation of opportunity drawing items to be used as incentives to support the cause, donations in memory of a fallen officer, or cash donations in any amount. All monies to the Project 999- Memorial Ride go toward helping the families of police officers killed or injured in Orange County in the line of duty.
Our non-profit was formed in 1979 for the purpose of supporting Orange County Law Enforcement. As a California non-profit corporation, the foundation provides equipment and raises funds to assist any POST Certified officer or deputy who is injured or killed in the line of duty in Orange County.
The Project 999 Memorial Bicycle Ride, a major fundraiser for the 999 Fund, began in 2000 as a way of honoring those who had given their lives in the line of duty. To date the 999 Fund has raised and contributed more than one million dollars for the sole purpose of assisting Orange County Peace Officers and their families in difficult times.
Each May, officers from law enforcement agencies throughout Orange County participate in the 630-mile Project 999 Memorial Bicycle Ride. Over 5 days, they pedal from the Peace Officer’s Memorial at the State Capitol in Sacramento, California, to the Plaza of the Flags Peace Officers’ Memorial in Santa Ana, California. Each rider rides in the name of an officer who has fallen in the line of duty.
Why Contribute to the Project 999 Memorial Ride?
Through your donations, you can help with funeral expenses, medical equipment, air fare and hotel expenses for family members, home repairs, and unanticipated costs, such as helping retrofit a home for wheelchair access for an officer shot and paralyzed while on duty.
The fund is available to:
ANY of the approximately 4000 POST Certified law enforcement officers in Orange County
The family of ANY Orange County POST Certified officer, from ANY Orange County law enforcement agency who is injured or killed in-the-line-of-duty
The monies spent must directly assist the officer or his or her family.
Every little bit helps and with a little help from many, great things may be accomplished for officers and their families in a time of need.
A portion of funds raised during the 2010 campaign will also go toward building a permanent memorial to honor Orange County Peace Officers killed in the line of duty. |
