At Jerome Brown center softball field in Brooksville on Friday night Dec. 7, 2018, staff from the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office and Hernando County Detention Center came together to play a friendly yet competitive softball game for one cause: Veterans.
The Hernando County Sheriff’s Office partnered up with CareerSource of Pasco Hernando County to raise donations for Veterans Support and was hosted by The Florida Council on Crime and Delinquency, INC.
The Florida Council on Crime and Delinquency, is a statewide organization that focuses on training and community service in the law enforcement committee. Each year the organization has a state project that each chapter works on, and for this year they are focusing on Veterans.
John Cameron, Chapter 30 President of Florida Council on Crime and Delinquency helped organize the Battle of the Badges event.
“When we decided that we wanted to do something for Vets around Christmas time, we reached out to our friends at the CareerSource,” John Cameron said. “We already established our relationship with our reentry program at the detention center and we knew who to go to for finding the neediest of veterans families to help locally in our communities.”
“We have a whole veterans services department, so we linked our veterans services staff to identify veterans in Hernando County that would benefit from this program,” said John Mallery, Program Manager for CareerSource Pasco Hernando. “They know their needs, they know their life situations and stage they are at as they progress into sustainable employment.”
“There’s so many members of the Sheriff’s Office that are veterans themselves, like myself and so it’s a kind of a near and dear thing. We know how important it is to support those that are out there putting their life on the line to defend us overseas,” Captain Cameron said. “So, with many veterans within the Sheriff’s Office we realized that we really wanted to support those that are coming back, especially ones that maybe suffering from PTSD, or some type of disability that maybe finding it a little tougher re-assimilating back into the community.”
The softball game was a huge hit with the community and many friends and family attending had a great time. This event brought much needed donations for veterans support.
The donations collected from the Battle of Badges softball game were delivered to veterans within the community.
If you are interested in giving for ‘Veterans Support’ please contact: John Mallery at 352-397-6399
You can also drop off donations at the Hernando County Sheriff’s office 7499 Forest Oaks Blvd, Spring Hill, FL 34606 or Detention Center 16425 Spring Hill Dr, Brooksville, FL 34604.
In case you were wondering, Law Enforcement won against Detention Center, score is undetermined.
