Optimist Club honors first responders

The Cape Girardeau Evening Optimist Club held its annual Respect for Law Banquet Thursday evening, May 18.

The banquet, held at VFW Post No. 3838 in Cape Girardeau, honored first responders from Cape Girardeau County.

The 2023 honorees were officer Matt Tisher and Sgt. Keith Green of Cape Girardeau Police Department, Capt. Phillip Gregory and Trooper Orrin Hawkins of Missouri State Highway Patrol and Sgt. Jim Bartles and correction officer Verla Carr of Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Office.

Keynote speaker for the event was Bob Neff, owner of Ford Groves auto dealership and a representative of Backstoppers of Cape Girardeau County.

Neff said Backstoppers was founded in 1959 in St. Louis to provide ongoing financial assistance and support to the spouses and dependents of first responders killed in the line of duty. He said the organization also eliminates the family's debt, including mortgage, credit card and student loans.

He said Backstoppers recently expanded their coverage to include first responders who have received catastrophic injury in the line of duty. Currently Backstoppers is serving 95 families and 70 dependent children. They've supported more 180 families in 27 Missouri counties since 1959, Neff stated.

"Those are impressive numbers, but unfortunately, there's a life that goes along with each of these families," Neff said. "But it's got to be comforting to know that resources will always be there for the families."