by Gavin Heaney
The third annual BeachLife “Evening by the Sea” charity fundraiser kicked off the festival weekend Wednesday evening at newly opened California Surf Club with a silent auction and a spirited performance by Rick Springfield (‘Jessie’s Girl,” “Don’t Talk to Strangers”).
BeachLife awards were presented to Redondo Beach Firefighter Captain Ben Bellante and Skechers Foundation’s Robin Curren for their leadership and philanthropy.
The fundraiser benefitted the Redondo Beach Police and Fire Foundation, an independent non-profit started by BeachLife Festival co-founder Allen Sanford and other Redondo Beach based businessmen and women. Its purpose is to forge an altruistic alliance between the police force and businesses residents.
“The BeachLife Gala is one of our biggest fundraising events,” said Corey King, the foundation’s executive director.
King is a recently retired Redondo Police Captain. “We’re looking at targeting a couple of big ticket items for the police department such as vehicle barriers. The city assists at a lot of big events, including BeachLife, the LA Kings Run and the Fourth of July fireworks show at the harbor. Portable vehicle barriers can make city events a lot safer.” he said.
The non-profit assists the police and fire department with purchasing equipment and providing training that is outside of their normal budget.
“We look at obtaining specialized equipment and technology for police and fire, and helping to support and operate various youth programs in the city,” King said. “We also look at developing initiatives related to emergency preparedness and counter-terrorism.”
A recent e-bike safety program is an example of the foundation’s work.
“When I was a Redondo Police lieutenant overseeing our special operations bureau, my school resource officers wanted the departments to get e-bikes because we were getting a lot of complaints about e-bikers. I didn’t have money in the budget for it, so I went through the foundation. It’s a grant application process. Anyone from the police or fire department can fill out an application. It goes through the chain of command all the way up to the police or fire chief. If they sign off on it and it gets sent over to the foundation. We got e-bikes for our school resource officers and they were able to do enforcement and education. They could get around the schools easier and were integrated with the kids.” The result has been an improvement in e-bike safety in Redondo Beach, which is backed up by a six month study by the police department. Officers have held two on-campus e-bike rodeos.
“IThe foundation has also procured trauma kits for every classroom in the entire school district with donations from The LA Kings, and has purchased a portable automatic license plate reader camera for their detective bureau. The foundation also helped send officers to National Police Week in Washington DC, a national memorial for the fallen officers.
“The foundation not only gives to the police and fire departments, but it also gives back to the community by building relationships with the police and fire departments. That’s essential to make everything work. When the police or fire show up it’s usually someone’s worst day and if people can experience them on a more human level, it makes all the difference.” he said. ER
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