COPS Walk fundraiser to be held Thursday at King's Restaurant
Barbara Crumbacker and her husband, Richard, walk at the 2016 Concerns of Police Survivors (COPS) walk in Washington, D.C. Barbara is holding a photo of her stepfather, who died from complications suffered while being shot on duty as a police officer. Submitted photo
By Bryan Hanks
Helping raise money for Concerns of Police Survivors (COPS) is personal for Barbara Crumbacker. Folks in Lenoir County will be able to help her and COPS if they visit King’s Restaurant Thursday night.
The La Grange resident will be walking 25 miles in two days in October in Washington, D.C., to raise funds for COPS and its “Hands-On Programs” for families and coworkers of officers who have been killed in the line of duty.
Crumbacker’s stepfather, Anthony Giniewicz, was shot during an attempted robbery in 1985 while he was a police officer in Signal Hill, Calif. He eventually passed away on Dec. 7, 2011, due to the complications he sustained from the injuries from the shooting.
“The COPS program assisted my mother, brothers and I with counseling and to attend the conference and National Police Week in May 2012 in Washington, D.C., when Dad was honored with other fallen officers from 2011,” she said. “After seeing what the organization did for survivors, especially the children, I knew I wanted to do what I could to help.”
All participants are challenged to raise $2,500 each to help support programs that include retreats for survivors and conferences held in D.C. for National Police Week each May. That’s where King’s Restaurant comes in – 10 percent of all sit-down sales at the U.S. 70 location in Kinston from 4-9 p.m. will go to COPS.
This is the fourth year King’s Restaurant owner Joe Hargitt has helped Crumbacker with her fund-raising for COPS.
“We do everything we can to help out the police and law enforcement agencies,” Hargitt said. “The police sometimes get some negativity but we have nothing but positive feelings for them. Anything we can do to help police, we do it.”
Concerns of Police Survivors was founded in 1984 for the surviving families of law enforcement officers, and today serves more than 15,000 surviving families nationwide. COPS provides many programs at no cost to the survivor. COPS hosts a summer camp for surviving children ages 6-14, an Outward Bound Experience for surviving teens ages 15-20, and retreats for adult children, spouses, parents, siblings, in-laws, and affected co-workers.
Each year, between 140 and 180 officers are killed in the line of duty. Their families and co-workers are left to cope with the tragic loss. COPS provides resources to help them rebuild their shattered lives. There is no membership fee to join COPS, for the price paid is already too high. Please visit www.nationalcops.org for more information on the organization.
The original COPS walk was held in 2005. The COPS walk event has raised more than $1 million in the past eight years and is considered a great success with more than 85 people participating annually.
Crumbacker will be part of the 14th annual COPS walk which will be held Oct. 6-7 in D.C. on a journey that will take them along the scenic Potomac River and continue into Harpers Ferry National Park.
If you’re unable to go to King’s Thursday night but would still like to help Crumbacker, you can donate at http://cops.cwhf18.dojiggy.com/barbaracrumbaker. You can also contact Lori Matthews at 573-346-4911 or lori_matthews@nationacops.org.
