Friends of the Foundation
The Friends of the Foundation are an inner circle of supporters who are dedicated to joining with Spirit of Blue in the cause of protecting our nation’s law enforcement.
955 agencies have already applied for safety grant funding, and more applications for consideration are received each week. On the other end of those requests are men and women who are dedicated to serving their communities and who risk their lives despite lacking the equipment and training they need to fully protect themselves as they do their work.
Each Friend provides $1,000 or more in financial support in a given year so that Spirit of Blue is able to continue administering its Safety Grant Program to those agencies in need across the country.
Donation: $1,000 or more (annually)
Membership Benefits:
- Two Member Challenge Coins (limited circulation)
- Two Member Car Window Decals
- Two Member Coffee Mugs
- 25% off all merchandise in our online store
- Invitations to special events and grant presentations
- Monthly Executive Director’s Call & Update
To join as a Friend of the Foundation, you may contact our Executive Director at ryan.smith@spiritofblue.org or mail your donation to:
Spirit of Blue Foundation
Friends of the Foundation
1905 NE 47th Avenue
Portland, OR 97213
You may also enroll and submit a qualifying donation online using the button below:
Join as a Friend of Foundation
MEET BRENDA TIFFANY
We first met Brenda in the Spring of 2018 when she wrote us and asked where we bought the tourniquets that we grant. She told us that she provides a gift bag for each graduate from the Kentucky State Police Training Academy and she wanted to start adding tourniquets for each of the troopers.
Then she told us why.
Her son, Trooper Joseph Cameron Ponder of the Kentucky State Police, was shot and killed in the line of duty on September 13, 2015. In response she has become an advocate for and champion of the law enforcement community in Kentucky and beyond. She joined and rode with Law Enforcement United into Washington, DC for National Police Week for many years. She holds 5K racing events in her son’s memory to raise scholarship dollars for local high school kids to go to college. And, she blesses KSP Troopers and Officers with thoughtful gift bags when they graduate from the academy.
Executive Director Ryan T. Smith and Brenda Tiffany visited her son’s memorial on I-24 in SW Kentucky in 2018 where Trooper Ponder was killed in the line of duty in 2015.
Her initial contact led to a broader conversation, and that led to Spirit of Blue working with her to grant tourniquets and duty belt carrying cases to all 1,000 KSP Troopers and Officers on September 13, 2018 – the 3 year anniversary of her son’s death. Now every man and women who serves with the Kentucky State Police has instant access to that lifesaving tool. That grant also became the first annual Trooper Joseph Cameron Ponder Memorial Grant which is awarded each year in the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
(left to right) Spirit of Blue Foundation Executive Director Ryan T. Smith and Bill Janson, president of Eleven 10, LLC presented a ceremonial check for tourniquets and cases to Brenda Tiffany, mother of fallen Trooper Cameron Ponder, Kentucky State Police Commissioner Rick Sanders and Sgt. Josh Lawson, commander of the KSP Public Affairs Branch.
Brenda has gone on to participate with us in other grant presentations in Kentucky, became the first Friend of the Foundation and has acted as our Friends of the Foundation Ambassador, inviting others to join our organization in support. In 2020 Brenda joined our Board of Directors and serves as our Vice Chairperson. Each year Brenda helps us select and award a new recipient agency in the Commonwealth of Kentucky for the Trooper Joseph Cameron Ponder Memorial Grant awarded in her son’s memory.