FIRST PLACE TEAM ROTH

FIRST PLACE TEAM ROTH – On Saturday, Nov. 3, Project 288 hosted a slow pitch softball tournament in honor of fallen Cedar County Deputy Matthew S. Chism. Deputy Chism was killed in the line of duty on Nov. 2, 2014, in El Dorado Springs. His family and friends wanted to keep his memory alive by raising money to do outreach projects and raise awareness about Law Enforcement and safety concerns, mainly with our youth. Project 288 was started this summer and has already been involved in several community events, raised money and given to different causes.

With money raised, $1,000 was donated in October to the Missouri Law Enforcement Funeral Assistance Team. This team organized Deputy Chism’s funeral and did an amazing job. They have a very difficult job that is vital to the surviving families of those fallen officers. Project 288 also plans to give scholarships in the spring of 2019 to two Cedar County seniors planning on majoring in a career in Criminal Justice or a related field. Funds raised from the softball tournament will help fund those scholarships and more projects to come.

Another cause Project 288 was able to donate to is Softball Santa which is organized by Stockton native, Justyn Morgan who now lives in Kansas City. He has organized a softball tournament the past couple years to raise money to help make sure less fortunate children would have gifts for Christmas. $100 was donated to this wonderful cause on Saturday night after the Championship game. Justyn said that money would help 4 to 5 children.

Project 288 would like to send a huge thank you to Chance and Janelle Cyr who worked so hard on putting this whole tournament together. It started out as a simple idea and turned into a 14-team tournament that went off without a hitch. We all have high hopes of next year being bigger and better. Also, a thank you to our sponsors who donated money and different items to sell or auction off. The tournament started off at 7:30am with breakfast, prayer and the singing of the National Anthem followed by a day full of some awesome games with some great people. During the lunch break, several items were auctioned off. There had been an ongoing raffle for a new Henry Goldenboy .22 Mag and a quilt that was handmade by Deputy Chism’s mother, Pam. Also, another rifle donated by a fellow Cedar County Deputy. A huge thank you to everyone who gave up their Saturday to volunteer, be an umpire, cheer your team on, drive from all over the state and play to help with our cause. We appreciate it more than you know and cannot wait till next year. 2nd place – Team Morgan, 3rd place- Team Stutzman.