Berrien Community Foundation Raising Money For Sheriff’s Department

The Berrien Community Foundation has announced an effort to help the sheriff’s department raise money for new officer safety gear. The foundation’s Lisa Cripps-Downey says last month’s fatal shootings at the courthouse in St. Joseph left the whole community looking for ways to help local police.

“We received many calls from community members asking what we could do to help, and just like everybody else, we wanted to do something,” Cripps-Downey told WSJM. “This was a small part that we could play in reacting to this tragedy.”

So, the community foundation has announced a new challenge grant as it tries to help the department raise $30,000. Cripps-Downey says, for every $2 the public gives toward the effort, the foundation will contribute another $1, up to $5,000. The goal is to help buy better vests and holsters for deputies. If you want to contribute to the effort, just go to BerrienCommunity.org/Sheriff. Or, you can send a check to the Berrien Community Foundation.