Letter of inquiry from The Shield to The Fifth Third Foundation The Shield is a non-profit organization created by the

Law Enforcement community in southwestern Ohio dedicated to providing immediate resources and financial support for the families of officers killed or critically injured in the line of duty. Our goal is to secure a large fund of money for which we can fulfill our commitment to strengthening the community, by providing the families of officers killed and critically injured in the line of duty with immediate financial support. With our two organizations shared interest in strengthening families and communities and making a substantial difference in the quality of community life, especially in the area for which The Shield and Fifth Third Foundation operate, The Shield believes this project will be of interest to The Fifth Third Foundation and request a donation of $30,000 over one year to support The Shield.

Throughout the United States, there are more than 870,000 Police Officers. In 2005, an on duty Police Officer in Cincinnati suffered a serve head injury. The Officers family was immediately notified; however, they lacked the necessary resources to allow them to travel from Georgia, where this family resides, to Ohio, where the injury took place. Fortunately, the family was able to obtain those resources from the Chief of Police, who came out of pocket to ensure that the family would be able to see their son before he eventually passed away. After that incident, the Chief of Police decided immediately thereafter that the lack of immediate emergency funds for was big a problem. Its a problem that is likely to reoccur again in the future. He ultimately determined that in order to counter this problem an emergency fund would be necessary.

Establishing an emergency fund for where The Shield can immediately use to provide support to families of officers killed or critically injured in the line of duty is of most importance to our organization, and its one that we believe can be addressed by The Fifth Third Foundation. The emergency fund provides immediate support to deserving families. Currently the emergency fund receives donations from fundraisers, as well as current and former Police Officers. A few examples for which we regularly distribute immediate emergency funds includes: (1) transportation for officers and their family members, (2) salary continuance, where an officer, while recovering from injury, can still meet financial obligations, and (3) providing assistance to families with medical related 1

Letter of inquiry from The Shield to The Fifth Third Foundation expenses; all of which strengthen the families of officers and the communities in Cincinnati. With a donation from the Fifth Third Foundation, it would allow The Shield to build capacity, which would permit us to help more families and communities and ultimately become more effective by expanding our outreach.

The Shield was created in 2005 after The Chief of Police stepped in to help the family of a Police Officer critically injured in the line of duty. The Shields mission is to provide immediate resources and financial support for the families of officers killed or permanently disabled in the line of duty in Cincinnati, which includes: Hamilton, Butler, Warren, and Clermont counties.

Law enforcement is a dangerous profession and, unfortunately, death and critical injuries are inevitable. Far too often the families of these Officers are not only emotionally overwhelmed but financially, too, and that is precisely where the Shield plays its pivotal role. To date, the Shield has helped the families of 30 officers and is committed to establishing a fund to continue to provide emergency support to those families.

The primary objective of The Shields Emergency Fund Project is to provide immediate resources and financial support to Officers and the families of Officers killed or critically injured in the line of duty. The Emergency Fund Project will be used for a variety of expenses relating to providing financial support to deserving Police Officers and their families; however, most of the funds will be distributed for reasons such as transportation, salary continuance, and medical related expenses. None of which will go to operating cost.

The Shields Emergency Fund Project is expected to result in the increased financial support to deserving recipients, particularly by expanding from Cincinnati into the tristate area. One of our goals is to help as many individuals and families as we can, and not limit our outreach to only a few counties in Cincinnati.