Deputy Jeffrey Snipes from Monroe County joined Good Morning Keys on Keys Talk 96.9/102.5FM this morning to talk about Save our First Responders 5K.
The fundraiser is coming up in January.
Deputy Snipes said, “The Save Our First Responders 5K is more than a 5K. This is the call to all the first responders and our lovely county and city here to come together and take a stand. And this is also a call to the public, the public that cares about our first responders, loves our first responders, to come out and to take a stand and to raise vital awareness and support for the mental health challenges faced by first responders due to job related trauma. And event is taking place Saturday, January 10. We are going to be having registration online, but we do have packet pickup happening at Fit to Run on Friday the ninth, from 5pm until 7pm. You can come and register then as well, and also on Saturday morning at the Truman Waterfront park in front of the historic US Coast Guard Cutter Ingham, we will be registering people from 7 to 7:45. That’ll be the absolute last opportunity that you’ll have to be able to register, and then the race starts at 8.”
There will be a special addition to the event.
Deputy Snipes said, “America’s Guard of Honor, the Elite 82nd airborne division is the prestigious paratrooper unit capable of deploying anywhere in the world in under 18 hours. A lot of people have heard of them before. To be a leader there, you have to be the best of the best, right? We’re giving the Monroe County public an opportunity to run and to meet a legend. So we’re asking people to come out to the Truman Waterfront park for the Save of our First Responders 5K to meet commander Sergeant Major Tonya Oxendine. She is a trailblazer who broke barriers as one of the first black female CSMs, which are again the command sergeant majors in the history of the 82nd airborne. Tonya not only faced a reality of extreme danger out there, but she also came back and was dealing with post traumatic stress after her service. She’s going to be out there, and she’s going to be running alongside us to ensure that our local heroes have the support that they need to thrive. It’s just really exciting that she’s going to be there. She is part of the Wounded Warrior Project, and she’s going to be out there running with us, and she will also be one of our guest speakers at the event, and we’re also going to be working with her to encourage all the participants at the 5K to go to the Wounded Warrior Project ceremony, which starts at 12 at Bayview Park, and to attend the community Soldier Ride. The Florida Sea Cadets led by Commanding Officer Scott Turbeville, is going to be leading the Florida Sea Cadets on bikes sponsored by Sunshine Scooters from the 5K where they will be volunteering. We are extremely grateful to Scott and the Florida Keys Sea Cadets, for everything that they’ve done for us. They have just been amazing. They’ve made videos for us. They’re going to be out there volunteering for us, setting up the race, and they are going to be attending the community soldier ride. So it’ll be a great experience for those kids to be with those veterans that and we’re hoping that it’ll be a great experience for everybody involved. We’ve got medals for the veterans, as well as challenge coins, veteran challenge coins that the kids will be giving to the veterans. So we’re hoping there’s going to be a lot of smiles and a lot of hugs and a lot of positive energy that day. We’re just really excited about that.”
There will also be special recognition of an officer during the event.
Deputy Snipes said, “Officer Alioht Valdez-Marrero. He was a school resource officer here in Key West and also helped lead the PAL summer camp. So he did a great job while he was here. A lot of people loved him a lot, and we lost him, and we want to make sure that that doesn’t happen again.”
There will be a lot of local law enforcement and municipal leaders as well in attendance.
Deputy Snipes said, “We’re all honored and happy to be able to be doing this. So on behalf of the Valdez-Marrero family. It’s really important. We need your support. We did life threatening things on a daily basis or nightly basis for some of us. And the last thing we need to hear is that our funding may be cut, our jobs may disappear. So on top of all of that, we need your support. Let’s figure out a way to keep our people in place.”
For more information, click here: https://runsignup.com/Race/FL/KeyWest/SaveOurFirstResponders5K