Matt Vance presenting Logan City Police Chief Gary Jensen a tourniquet kit for each department officer, Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2020 (Courtesy: Matt Vance)
LOGAN — The Logan City Police Department received a special gift Wednesday afternoon. A local family purchased medical tourniquets for each officer after spending the past several months raising the money for the devices.
The tourniquets have been added to tactical vests, each officer carries in case of an emergency. The tourniquets can be used to save the life of a citizen, fellow officer or themselves.
Matt Vance organized and raised money for the devices with the help of his wife, Crista and two young daughters. He came up with the idea after volunteering at the police department and seeing what local officers had to deal with on a daily basis.
“It just opened my eyes to how much the police officers really sacrifice for us,” explained Vance. “I wanted to do something on my own to support them.”
Last year, his family took cupcakes to the police department on January 9, National Law Enforcement Day. He hoped it would help show officers his support of what they did.
Matt explained that last summer he got the idea to hold a small family fundraiser to do something more for officers this year.
“So we figured that if we sold snow cones in the summer, we could use that as a fundraiser and when Law Enforcement Appreciation Day comes in January, it would be a second opportunity for us to have a positive highlight. And whatever funds we raised, we could use it for something the officers needed.”
Vance’s family earned $411 selling the snow cones outside their Island neighborhood home, every Monday night in August. At the same time, he met with Logan City Police Chief Gary Jensen and learned that not all officers carried tourniquets because they aren’t a standard-issued piece of equipment.
Matt started researching the devices and found it would cost $1,600 to buy the needed 60 kits. After contacting some suppliers, he got the cost down to about $1,000, which was still $600 more than his family had raised.
Crista said they then tried to raise the remaining money through a social media campaign on Giving Tuesday in November. They hit their goal in less than two days.
“I think having the cause in place, knowing that they were donating a tourniquet, which is a life-saving device, to the police officers of Logan City helped motivate people.”
Matt and Crista said they hope officers are able to feel the overwhelming love and support that most of our community has for them, compared to the negative-light that exists in other parts of the country. They are planning on conducting an even bigger campaign this year, so they can purchase tourniquets for all of the other law enforcement agencies in the valley.
will@cvradio.com