A charity created to support the Park County Sheriff’s Office and its employees will begin fundraising efforts this spring or summer to pay for projects including public safety improvements and college scholarships for the children of first responders.

“That [the scholarship] is something we will be trying hard at as we do our fundraising efforts,” said Sgt. Jona Harris of the Park County Detention Center, founder of the Park County Sheriff’s Office Charitable Foundation.

The foundation, the fundraising arm of the sheriff’s department, was created in March 2021 by Harris, who is the daughter of retired Park County Sheriff Bill Brewer. 

“My dad was a part of the sheriff’s office for many years, and his passion and love for Park County really inspired me,” Harris said.

Harris plans to focus largely on scholarships, which would be made available to students who are children of full-time or retired Park County Sheriff’s Department employees or full-time 911 call center employees, according to a press release.

In February, the foundation was able to purchase 24 doses of Narcan nasal spray, which is used to treat suspected opioid overdoses. Park County sheriff’s deputies were also supplied with pouches for the spray and trained in its use. 

Harris said the Narcan was important to the foundation’s board and something the foundation was able to fund quickly. 

Foundation leaders had approached Park County commissioners in August and requested $500,000 from the county’s share of federal American Rescue Plan funding, hoping to purchase new equipment and pay for additional training for the department’s more than 60 employees over a three-year period.

Darrin Whalen, then the foundation’s vice president, said the department’s current budget covers only minimal training and is limited enough that deputies must limit how much ammunition they use during training.

“What does the sheriff have to say when his people come and ask for new equipment? He has to say no,” Whalen said, “because there’s no money in the budget.”

Commissioners expressed general support for providing some of the ARP funds to the foundation, but didn’t take action, indicating they wanted to see a more refined list of needs.

For more information on the foundation, visit www.pcsocharitablefoundation.org.

(CJ Baker contributed reporting.)