– Earlier this morning, Country Financial Representative Keith Brack presented Sheriff Mike Downey and the Kankakee County Sheriff’s Office with a check for $1500 through Country Financial’s Operation Helping Heroes program.  The money is being used to provide each sheriff’s deputy with an Individual First-Aid Kit (IPAK).

“It is a pleasure to have the opportunity to team up with Sheriff Downey and his staff on this project,” said Keith Brack, Financial Representative at COUNTRY Financial. “With the crucial role our first responders play on a daily basis, which has certainly been emphasized as of late, I think it goes without saying that we need to do everything in our means to outfit our law enforcement officers with the necessary tools to do their jobs and to ensure they make it home at the end of their shifts.”

“We are extremely appreciative of all the time and hard work that Keith Brack put into this project,” said Kankakee County Sheriff Mike Downey.  “We actually had an incident last year where one of our deputies was able to utilize a similar kit of his own to save the life of a gun-shot victim in the Pembroke Township area.  The fact that Keith and the Country Financial team were willing to acquire these funds to outfit our entire fleet with these kits could potentially save lives, including that of first responders, and that speaks volumes to our community partnership.”

Country Financial’s Operation Helping Heroes Program was created in 2015 to support non-profit events and programs that benefit active duty service members, veterans and their families.  Last year, the program was expanded and donated $700,000 to approximately 500 first-responder and military organizations. 

Sheriff Downey and the Kankakee County Sheriff’s Office sincerely thank Keith Brack and Country Financial for their donation.