To all our fantastic BTBNC members,
Thank you for joining the team, for your support, and for subscribing to our emails. We hope to make the newsletter a monthly event.
As this is our first newsletter, it will encompass both the end of February and all of March.
To say that we at Back The Blue NC have been busy would be a huge understatement. We have added three new team members to the BTBNC staff. Lisa Creek, Frank Mitchell, and Chaplain Angela Pleasants.
Lisa joins us as our Charlotte Services Officer, Frank Is our Coastal co-chair, and Angela is the Director of our new Crisis Task Force. All of their bios can be found on the about us page on our website. https://www.backthebluenc.us/our-team
We are excited and proud to announce the addition of the Crisis Task Force. Our Crisis Helpline is a not-for-profit 501(c)3 dedicated to serving active and retired law enforcement officers and their loved ones by providing a CONFIDENTIAL trained Chaplain for people that are dealing with various stressors law enforcement encounter both on and off the job.
Whether it is just a "bad day" or a crisis we are here to listen. We are able to assist and if needed, offer a referral to a competent mental health professional. Our Crisis and Help team is an essential component of Back The Blue NC's community outreach and engagement efforts. It is a confidential, free, daily, 365-day-a-year, information service for individuals and family members facing mental and/or substance use disorders. We will not ask you for any personal information. For more information or help please reach out to our Crisis Task Force Director Angela Pleasants. angela@backthebluenc.us
Our website is growing almost as fast as the organization itself. We have added an Honor Roll page to our website listing all the officers killed in the line of duty in North Carolina. We started the list from the year 2020 since that was the year our organization began. The page has a photograph, biography, and description of each officer along with the circumstances surrounding their death. The link to the honor roll page can be found on our home page on the top menu bar. https://www.backthebluenc.us/honor-roll
On March 25th, our CEO and founder Lindsay, along with our co-founder Anthony presented a check to the Nash County Sheriff's Department and the PBA (Police Benevolent Association) for Deputy Jared Allison's son, Colt. The money will be placed into a trust fund for future use by Colt Allison. Deputy Allison died from injuries he suffered in a car accident while on duty on the evening of Thanksgiving last year.
The following day, on March 26th, our CEO and founder Lindsay was interviewed live on the Rush Limbaugh Show by Rush's Widow Kathryn Limbaugh after being nominated for the Great American Business award. Lindsay shared her story as to how and why she started the Back The Blue NC organization. Although Lindsay did not win first prize, just being nominated and interviewed is a recognition like no other that our organization has experienced before.
Due to the ongoing restrictions and lockdown within the state of North Carolina, we have been unable to hold any of our rallies or events. This has put an almost complete stop to our fundraising which we utilize to raise money for the families of our officers who have made the ultimate sacrifice and lost their lives in the line of duty. The only fundraising we have been able to do has been through social media and the sale of the Back The Blue NC gear from our website store. We cannot urge you enough to visit our store on the website and purchase some of our gear or make a donation of any amount, and please be sure to share it on social media and tell your friends and families to help in any way they can. https://www.backthebluenc.us/shop
We are currently planning a rally/event which will take place on April 24th in Gastonia, NC, the Mount Holly/Charlotte area. The event will take place between noon and 3 p.m. at Karyae Park, 4217 Linwood Road Gastonia, NC 28052. This event will be honoring Our Heroes in blue and remembering Fallen officer Tyler Herndon of the Mount Holly Police Department. There will be music, speakers, food, and vendors selling back the blue-related items. Best of all there will be public restrooms! If you've been to any of our previous events you'll understand why that's important.
As always, please consider joining our Back The Blue NC Team! We are always looking for people and wanting to add to our staff. We will always be there for all of our law enforcement officers but we can only do that with your help and support.
Please feel free to contact any of our team members with questions and or comments.
Gadi Adelman Chairman /Media Relations