[ UPDATE: Thanks to our matching donation program in July 2013, we were able to give another $263 to our charity beneficiary, Texas Line of Duty Death Task Force! ]
Back on June 7, 2013, we announced that we had given $10,000 to the Texas Line of Duty Death Task Force, who honors fallen firefighters/EMS and assists the survivor families. This donation was made in response to the 12 firefighters lost due to the fertilizer plant explosion in West, Texas in April 2013.
We pledged an additional $5 per race entry from June 7 through July 4. This raised another $665 for the charity, but we rounded it up to give $700 more to TX LODD Task Force.
I just received the most touching letter from Wendy Norris, the Chairman & CEO of Texas Line of Duty Death Task Force:
"As a token of my appreciation, I would like to give you this West Response coin. There were only 50 of them made and they will only be given to the volunteers who responded or assisted in that particular incident. Because of your donation in response to the West families, I feel that you should receive the last one, #50. I feel that your donation marked the end of our response, and the beginning of our journey in helping these families recover."
Our participants and sponsors are what make it possible for us to help charities like these. This coin belongs equally to all of you who made this possible.
Since the West incident, another 5 firefighters have died in the line of duty. That's now 18 families this year who have come under the long term care program that the Texas Line of Duty Death Task Force provides. Their charity is completely funded by donations.
Therefore, we'd like to announce that we will match any donations (up to a total of $1,000) made by the end of July to TX LODD Task Force either of the following ways:
1) during our online race registration processes for The Showdown Half Marathon and 5K (October 12, 2013) or New Years Double (Dec. 31-Jan. 1) (there is a field during registration where you can make an additional donation to this charity)
2) made directly to TX LODD Task Force via their website, and referencing our organization in the "Acknowledge To:" or "Comments" field. It's important that you must mention The Active Joe somewhere during your donation process.
So let's continue to get active and help out a great charitable organization at the same time!