The Capt. David Dorn Foundation recently donated bags filled with $300 worth of gear to the Festus, Crystal City and Pevely police departments.
The foundation donated 29 bags to the Festus department, 15 to Crystal City and 17 to Pevely.
Dorn Foundation representatives Ann Dorn and Gary Foster, delivered the donations to the police departments on July 8.
“Each officer gets a gear bag,” Foster said. “We’ve got eye and ear protection for the shooting range. Also, a flashlight and a law enforcement trauma kit. The flashlight is rechargeable.”
He said each of the trauma kits contains bandaging that could help someone who is shot survive until the person is taken to medical treatment.
Both Dorn and Foster are retired St. Louis Metropolitan Police sergeants, and Dorn is the wife of the late David Dorn, a retired St. Louis Metropolitan Police officer who was shot and killed at the age of 77 on June 2, 2020, while trying to stop looting at a pawn shop in the 4100 block of Martin Luther King Drive in St. Louis during protests following the death of George Floyd.
Foster said the donations are intended to provide officers with equipment they otherwise would not get so they don’t have to use their clothing allowance to buy those items.
Foster said the Dorn Foundation also donated equipment to the Festus Police Department’s eight dispatchers.
Festus Detective Sgt. Lewis Pippin said the donations are greatly appreciated.
“It means a great deal, having this support for our officers,” Pippin said. “It’s amazing they’re doing this for our police officers, making sure they’re provided with items that could potentially save their lives.”
Crystal City Police Chief Chad Helms said he, too, appreciated the donations for his department.
“Anytime we get equipment donated in any capacity for doing our jobs, it’s helpful,” he said. “We’re very appreciative for their support for the law enforcement community.
“The (trauma) kits could be life-saving.”
Helms noted that the Dorn Foundation also donated 12 restaurant gift cards to the Crystal City Police Department.
“They want us to identify an employee of the month and give them the gift cards,” he said.
The foundation also donated 46 bags filled with equipment for dispatchers to the Jefferson County 911 Dispatch on July 8, Foster said.
He said the foundation also was scheduled to deliver bags of equipment to the Arnold Police Department during the week of July 11.
The foundation previously donated bags filled with gear to the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office and other area law enforcement agencies.
Ann Dorn lives in Imperial and Foster lives in Herculaneum. The two said they started the nonprofit foundation in memory of David Dorn, who served as chief of the Moline Acres Police Department after retiring from a 38-year-career with the St. Louis Police.
Donations may be made to the foundation through its website at captdaviddornfoundation.com, through its Facebook page or by calling 314-791-9488.