Sheriff’s Benevolent Posse receives anonymous donation for COVID-19 supplies

August 20, 2020
Benevolent Posse Board Chair, Richard Kline; Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown; Benevolent Posse Board President, Sara Oshaughnessy; Sheriff’s Lieutenant, Erik Raney; Benevolent Posse Board Secretary, Diana Vandervoort.

COURTESY PHOTO
From left to right: Benevolent Posse Board Chair, Richard Kline; Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown; Benevolent Posse Board President, Sara Oshaughnessy; Sheriff’s Lieutenant, Erik Raney; Benevolent Posse Board Secretary, Diana Vandervoort.

The Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Benevolent Posse provided the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department with a $10,000 anonymous donation last week, which will be used to purchase supplies and personal protective equipment for Sheriff’s personnel.

Board members for the Benevolent Posse, a nonprofit that raises money for the Sheriff’s Office, recently presented the donation to Sheriff Bill Brown at the Sheriff’s headquarters. The Sheriff’s Office will use the donation to purchase much-needed PPE for line level staff who work in patrol and custody settings. The funds will also be used for necessary supplies to keep all the Sheriff’s employees safe, such as masks, hand sanitizer and disinfectant supplies, said Lt. Erik Raney, sheriff’s spokesman.

With a limited budget, the Sheriff’s Office relies on donations to fund certain programs and equipment items that are beyond budget resources, Lt. Raney said.

“The Posse is a group of incredibly dedicated philanthropists who seek donations and grants to benefit the Sheriff’s Office,” Sheriff Brown said in a statement. “Because of their extraordinary generosity we are able to provide programs and resources to our people and our communities that would otherwise not be available.”

The Benevolent Posse raises funds annually to support the D.A.R.E. and Explorer programs, Sheriff’s K9 units and Mounted Enforcement Unit. The group has also purchased important protective equipment and supplies for the department, including helmets and protective vests for the Custody Operations Special Operations Response Team, ballistic vests for the department’s K9’s, and contributions towards the purchase of the Hostage Negotiations Team command post vehicle, among other items.

“The Sheriff’s Benevolent Posse owes a deep debt of gratitude to the donors to the Posse — especially the anonymous donor who donated this $10,000 with the specific request that it be used for COVID-19 protective equipment,” Sara Oshaughnessy, president of the Benevolent Posse, said in a statement. “It’s only due to generous donors like this that the Posse is able to assist the Sheriff’s Office in filling their unfunded, urgent needs.”

email: mwhite@newspress.com

View original article »