Woodmen donate to PD

The Woodmen of the World have donated money to the Newton Grove Police Department, an effort to replace loss or damaged equipment following the wreck that claimed officer Brent Hall.

During the Newton Grove Board of Commissioners meeting earlier this week, Police Chief Greg Warren, mentioned equipment and personal items requiring replacement. He also announced that the Woodmen of the World had donated money toward achieving that goal.

“The Woodmen of the World Chapter 371 from Newton Grove has donated a pretty good amount of money. This is in memory of Brent to help us replace our lost equipment from the wreck as part of the ‘Hometown Heroes,’” Warren said.

Warren noted the outpouring for the department in the wake of Hall’s loss.

“The cards have been overwhelming coming from Canada, Los Angeles and Wyoming police departments,” Warren said. “I think it was every state, except two or three, and it’s been overwhelming to see the amount of love poured into this town.”

For Woodmen, this donation came about as a part of the projects they undertake each quarter. Those projects include everything from donating to homeless shelters, toward establishing food pantries and, in this case, aiding a local police department.

“Ever quarter, we here at WoodmenLife do a quarterly project to help out those around the county,” said Woodmen Chapter 371 President, Rebecca O’Dell. “This quarterly project was part of Equipment for Hometown Heroes, where we donate to help honor our heroes.”

“Officer Warren is a fairly new chief and he’s been doing an excellent job, especially after what happened to Officer Brent. For us, this donation was not only a way for honoring our heroes but also a way to honor his life as well,” she added.

Replacing a police cruiser is a large financial venture. During Monday’s meeting, town officials cited a cost of around $40,000 to get a properly equipped vehicle for the town.

“We were more than happy to give this donation to Chief Warren and the Newton Grove Police Department. Now he can take that money and use it to help replace anything he needs to with it,” O’Dell said.

“Whenever we can help out someone like this in the community, it gives us here at WoodmenLife a great sense of pride. We are always happy to do it. Just because we can’t meet people in person right now doesn’t mean we still can’t do our part to help mankind,” she concluded.

WoodmenLife Chapter 371, in Newton Grove, is one of the nearly 1,300 units across the nation that attempt to help make a differences in their local communities. Members of the chapters are people who live within those respective communities, with locally-appointed officers.

Each chapter partners with multiple different groups from police departments, schools, charities and other groups with the ultimate aim of making the community a better place.

Officers from Chapter 371 include O’Dell, Vice President Craig Warren, Secretary David Warren, Treasurer Margaret Jackson, Auditor Chairman Lloyd Jackson and Recruiting Sales Manager Craig Walters.