Happy Holidays. We hope you and your families are doing well and enjoying the Holiday Season. We wish everyone a safe and happy New Year.
We would like to thank all our supporters for their donations over the past year. Without you, we would not be able to support the development and implementation of community programs designed to build connections between law enforcement and the communities they serve.
The Officer Sean A. Collier Memorial Fund was established to honor the memory of Sean A. Collier who was Killed In the Line of Duty by the Boston Marathon Bombers on April 18, 2013.
These are some of our recent events:
Honoring Officer Emmanuel Familia of the Worchester PD at the Annual Golf Tournament at Four Oaks Country Club.
Officer Manny Familia (38) drowned while attempting to rescue a juvenile who had gone underwater in a small pond in Green Hill Park. Three juveniles who had gone into the water became distressed. One of the juveniles went underwater and failed to surface. Officer Familia and several other officers responded to the pond and entered the water in an effort to save all three. Officers were able to bring the other two juveniles to shore, however, Officer Familia failed to surface while trying to save the third juvenile. We donated $5000 to the Familia Family Memorial Fund.
Supporting Police and Community Youth Sports Programs
The Memorial Fund distributed $10,000 worth of sports equipment (baseballs, softballs, soccer balls, baseball mits, etc.) that was donated by Mike & Cindy Kuenzler of All Sports Heroes: Uniforms, Sporting Goods, & Promotions
The donations were given to the Shedd Park Baseball and Softball Organization and Pawtucketville Youth Organization (both of Lowell), the Cambridge Police Youth Program and the Lynn Police Youth Division. This equipment will assist these organizations in providing hundreds of boys and girls in Lowell, Cambridge and Lynn an opportunity to learn and play sports.
Memorial Fund Background
On April 15, 2013, two explosives went off near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, killing three and wounding 264 people. The three killed by the explosions were 29-year-old Krystle Campbell, 8-year-old Martin Richard and 23-year-old Lingzi Lu.
Three days later, on April 18, 2013, at approximately 10:30 pm, Patrol Officer Collier was shot and killed by the two suspects wanted for the terrorist bomb attack during the Boston Marathon. Officer Collier was ambushed and shot multiple times by the suspects while seated in his patrol car on the campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Officer Collier was transported to the hospital where he died.
The bombing suspects were tracked to Watertown, MA were there was a shootout with law enforcement officers. One of the suspects was killed and Massachusetts Bay Transportation Police Officer Richard H. Donohue Jr. (a Police Academy classmate of Sean’s) was critically wounded but survived. Boston Police Department officer Dennis Simmonds was injured by an explosive device and he died of this injuries almost a year later on April 10, 2014. Eight other officers were also injured in the shootout with law enforcement officers.
The second suspect was apprehended the following day, tried and by unanimous decision sentenced to death on May 15, 2015.