By Brian M. Boyce
TERRE HAUTE — Their donuts might be soggy, but the pancakes were not.
“I think it’s a great cause and I’m all for it,” Terre Haute City Councilman Norm Loudermilk (D-3rd) said Saturday morning while serving breakfast at Applebee’s on U.S. 41 on behalf of The Soggy Donut Fund and its efforts to support law enforcement during times of natural disaster.
Other local celebrities helping serve at the fundraising breakfast included Terre Haute City Fire Chief Jeff Fisher and Mayor Duke Bennett.
“I’m excited for these guys. They’re working hard,” Bennett of the relatively new, but growing, nonprofit group.
The Soggy Donut Fund was established by individual members of various local law enforcement agencies after watching their colleagues wade through the June 2008 floods and right back to work.
The group’s long-term goal is to provide emergency services personnel and their families with shelter, food and clothing during natural disasters as they often have to work amidst the mayhem.
But since its inception last year, the group has been able to spread its reach beyond Indiana and is now looking at national fundraising events.
“The community’s been fantastic,” said Ryan Adamson, one of the group’s founders. “At a time like this, for someone to reach into their pocket and give us $500 is just amazing.”
And in consideration of the “generous” community support, Adamson said the group plans to slow down on local requests and focus more on community outreach.
Meanwhile, co-founder Brad Newman said the group will be sponsoring events in Chicago, Virginia and Florida this year. “We’re taking the Soggy Donut Fund on the road,” he said, noting the amount of national attention the group received after attending a police convention in Washington, D.C., this year.
The group will host a gun raffle Aug. 29 on behalf of a local 10-year-old boy with Down syndrome to help his family with medical expenses.
“As much as the community helps us, we want to help the community,” he said.
Brian Boyce can be reached at (812) 231-4253 or brian.boyce@tribstar.com.
