Businesspeople launch police and firefighters fund

The Greene County 100 Club’s mission is to issue immediate financial assistance to families of police officers and firefighters killed in the line of duty. The specific objective is to issue the family a $5,000 check within 24 hours of the death.

While Springfield city police and fire personnel have access to life insurance, “all those benefits flow slowly,” said Springfield Police Department Chief Lynn Rowe. “Survivors have to have help immediately, because there are burial or funeral expenses to deal with, (and) there are ongoing mortgages and bills that have to be paid.”

The nonprofit 100 Club ¬– named so because most donations are $100 – will cover more than 700 full- and part-time and volunteer law enforcement and firefighting personnel throughout Greene County.

Officials behind the 100 Club have the goal of raising $500,000 over the next five years, according to Bob Hammerschmidt, Commerce Bank regional president and the club’s treasurer and development chair. The group has already collected about $100,000 in pledges.

See SBJ’s Oct. 8 issue for more on the Greene County 100 Club.