Officer Kurt Hudson began his career with Cobb County PD in 2017 and has been at Precinct 2 since graduating from the police academy. He is currently a Field Training Officer with a passion for sharing his knowledge of the requirements of the job with others. He not only works hard as a police officer, he also works a part time job three nights a week. Ordinarily, when he's not working, you will find him at the gym, or spending time with his girlfriend, Haley, or with his family.
In August, Kurt was diagnosed with testicular cancer. He had surgery later that same month and he has been in cancer treatment at City of Hope in Newnan, for the past several months. Unfortunately it was determined that the cancer had spread to his lungs, spleen and lymph nodes. As a result it was necessary to put a stint in his kidney to allow it to drain properly. Even though the cancer had spread, it is still classified as testicular cancer, which is 99% treatable. Kurt has completed two of the four cycles of chemo and, although he has had some setbacks, overall he is responding extremely well to the treatment. Altogether, he has been out of work since late August; however, doctors are hopeful he will be able to return to work by mid-January. As a result, Kurt remains optimistic and upbeat about his future. Please consider a tax deductible donation to help this officer and the others we are sponsoring this year at https://www.flipcause.com/secure/cause_pdetails/MTc2Mzc1
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Officer Kieon Winston started his career with the Cobb County Police Department in 2013. He also served in the National Guard from 2012 through 2018. Officer Winston has worked in several precincts to include Precinct 2, Precinct 4, and Precinct 5. In 2021, he joined the Cobb County Police Motors unit where he spends most of his days enforcing traffic. Officer Winston enjoys participating in county events as well as volunteering his time to help with PAL (Police Athletic League). Officer Winston is also a mentor and offers support and guidance to troubled juveniles, helping direct them toward a right path in life, through a program operated by Juvenile Court.
On September 21st, 2023, officer Winston was riding his motorcycle off-duty and was involved in an accident, resulting in major injuries. He was transported to the hospital where it was discovered that his pelvis bone was broken/fractured on the left side and shifted upwards from its correct location. He also tore his meniscus, ACL and MCL. Officer Winston had surgery the same day of the accident for the pelvis and will still need surgery for his knee. Due to this incident and his major medical injuries, he has depleted all his available sick time and leave hours and is not expected to return to full-duty for a year. Please help us show this hero that this community stands behind him and his family by making a tax deductible donation through our Blue Family Christmas Campaign As the month draws to a close, we are reflecting on all the things we were able to accomplish with the help of volunteers, and funding from our supporters. On October 3rd, we started the month by presenting a plaque and oil painting with lunch (courtesy of Zaxby's in Marietta) to the Cobb County Sheriff's Office K9 Unit and Deputy Anita Lucas-Dykstra in memory of K9 Athos who passed on July 18. It was a touching tribute and tears were shed for their loss.
On October 9th we were proud to be a part of the "Faith and Blue" event in Austell and enjoyed cooking hotdogs and handing out drinks and chips to the many attendees there who came to enjoy meeting and learning more about our public safety officers and law enforcement. We also purchased the grill used and donated to the Austell Police Department. Finally, on October 21st, we were invited to join members of the Cobb Community Foundation and two other nonprofits at the Chattahoochee Nature Center where board members, Robin and (deputy Chief) Steve Kucynda, spoke to guests about what we do and how families can be involved. As we look forward to November, our focus is on ensuring all our on-duty officers in Cobb County receive a delicious Thanksgiving Day meal. This massive project involves over 20 volunteers who help prepare, stage, load out and deliver over 400 meals in a matter of only five hours! If you would like to help with the funding for this incredible day, we need your help! Please go to our "Donate" page to make a tax deductible donation! And check back next month for photos and the full story!
Our 2023 Blue Family Christmas Campaign and Gala is already building and we would like to invite you to join with us as a sponsor or guest at this year's gala. We are offering a variety of sponsorship options with many benefits included. We also have table and seats available for reservation and by clicking the link below, you can learn more about how to secure your sponsorship, table or seat at this incredible event. So don't miss out! The date is December 14 and the location is the Governor's Gun Club. The evening will be festive, and the cause is great. While this beautiful evening offers supporters the opportunity to celebrate the holidays with local law enforcement officers from various agencies in Cobb, we will also be raising money to help officers in need due to severe medical diagnosis. A portion of the funds raised will also be used to help fund our new campaign coming in 2024, that will address the need for mental health and wellness resources for our officers. (More info to come on that campaign, later)
Reservations and sponsorship information is available at: Our Event Website On August 21st, 2023, we hosted our first ever golf tournament at Brookstone Golf and Country Club in Acworth GA. This incredible day was sponsored by a group of wonderful folks including Willis Chiropractic, Roy Barnes and his Law Office, Mazi Mazloom Law, Tito's, LGE Insurance, Governor's Gun Club, Roger and Marilyn Watkins, Scott Dickerson/Southern Airflow, Jeff Parker, Atlanta Beverage, 1885 Grill, Marietta Diner, The Butcher on Whitlock, Maple Street Biscuit, Flying Biscuit, Commissioners Keli Gambril, Monique Sheffield and Joann Birrell, A Second Chance Bonds, Stockton Mortgage, Barbie Brown, Axon and many others. With sold out numbers, we had 30 teams enjoy a day of golf with breakfast and lunch provided along with about 60 raffle prizes and trophies for 1st, 2nd and last place, closest to the pin and longest drive. Many thanks to all our players, sponsors, volunteers and to our own Board of Advisors member, Bob ("Hey Baby") Pierce for organizing this event. For photos of the day, visit www.peacepix.smugmug.com/events. We look forward to doing this again next year! Tuesday August 15th, members of our Board of Directors, including Dpty Chief Steve Kucynda, Robin Kucynda, Kim and Doug Hill along with outgoing Director, Barry Little and Advisory Board member, Connie Burson presented memorials to the Cobb County K9 Unit. Also presented were oil paintings commissioned to memorialize K9 Ryker and K9 Chase. Their handlers, Officers E Barnett and C Neill received the paintings and memorials, while the Unit received duplicate memorials for the building. Also, Officer Joe Morgan presented a sketch of each K9 professionally done by Philadelphia Police Forensic Artist Jonny Castro, and Chief Vanhoozer said a few words before everyone enjoyed a BBQ lunch. Many Thanks to Justin Arndt Media for the awesome photos!
Thank you to our supporters who make these type events possible. On August 1st, Blue Thanksgiving was proud to be a part of the 40th anniversary of National Night Out, which is an annual community-building campaign that promotes police-community partnerships and neighborhood camaraderie to make neighborhoods a safer, better place to live. It is also an opportunity to heighten crime and drug prevention awareness. Agencies across the country come together with businesses, nonprofits and other agencies for an evening of family fun for the communities.
This year, we were happy to once again provide a photo opportunity for guests with a Cobb County Police squad car in a photo booth. Guests were able to take home photo strips to commemorate the evening. We also handed out bookbags, individual packages of cookies, chips, crackers and candies along with our logo badge stickers. Our directors CCPD Chief (ret.) Tim Cox and his wife Jenny, with Deputy Chief Steve Kucynda with wife Robin and daughter Emily were all in the BTI booth with Secretary Douglas Hill and President Kim Peace Hill. We also had Advisor, Dana Atwood helping man the booth. The weather cooperated and after a week of blistering muggy heat, the humidity dropped and there was a soft breeze to keep us cool A really great time was had by all who worked the event, as well as those who visited. We look forward to partnering again with CCPD in 2024 at this and other events. Monday, June 5th was a very sad day for officer Caleb Neil and the entire Cobb law enforcement family. Blue Thanksgiving was at the Active Shooter Training at Alatoona High School preparing to feed officers, when the energetic and positive day came crashing down when we learned that K9 Chase could not be saved. Our hearts go out to officer Neil and his family who are grieving this loss.
Officer Neil and his wife, Samantha have both been a part of our Thanksgiving Day meal project and have helped deliver meals to on duty officers in Cobb with us each year. We consider them members of our Blue Thanksgiving family and are heartbroken for them. The story as posted on media outlets from the Cobb County Police Department read as follows: On June 5, 2023, K9 Chase passed away in the line of duty. Chase was a Belgian malinois born in Hungary on August 13, 2018. Chase began his career with the Cobb County Police Department in April 2020 with his handler K9 Officer Neill. Chase was a dual-purpose K9 trained for narcotics detection, criminal apprehension, tracking, building searches, and evidence recovery. Chase seized thousands of dollars worth of illegal narcotics, with numerous arrests and apprehensions. Chase was named after fallen Locust Grove Police Officer Chase Maddox, who died in the line of duty on February 9, 2018, just months before K9 Chase was born. K9 Chase was in his kennel when the air conditioning system malfunctioned in Officer Neill’s patrol vehicle. Preliminary information indicates that other safety systems did not properly activate and the temperature quickly rose in the vehicle. K9 Chase was found unresponsive in the patrol vehicle by K9 Officer Neill. Life-saving measures were started by Officer Neill, other Cobb Officers, and Cobb County Fire personnel (also attending the active shooter training); K9 Chase was then transported to a nearby emergency veterinarian clinic. But the efforts were not enough to save him, and he succumbed to his heat-related injuries. K9 Chase was a beloved officer of the Cobb County Police Department and will forever be missed by us all. This year Blue Thanksgiving was contacted about feeding officers and other first responders attending the Active Shooter Training at Alatoona High School in Acworth. After six days of training officers, firefighters, EMT's, School police and other first responders, we are proud to say that we successfully provided approximately 800 burgers, dogs, bags of chips and more to about as many first responders in attendance. The food was good, and the attendees were grateful for the lunch they otherwise would not have received. We thank all our sponsors, and supporters for your donations. Without you, we couldn't do this type of work. Your support is appreciated by the officers we serve and all of us! And a huge "Thank You!" to the board members, volunteers and officers who helped cook the burgers and dogs, helped with set up, serving, and break down every day. We look forward to being a part of this event again next year!
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