A helping paw: Marion K9 Project raises $41,200 for local law enforcement K9 units

Andrew Carter, Marion Star
·5 min read
Major B.J. Gruber, left, from the Marion Police Department and Sheriff Matt Bayles, right, from the Marion County Sheriff's Office accept checks from Jill Chitwood, center, of the Marion K9 Project that will benefit each agency's K9 unit. Also shown are, from left to right, local K9 officers Deputy John Endicott, Det. Colin Lowe, and Deputy Sam Staley.

A Marion County organization has raised $41,200 to benefit the K9 units at the Marion Police Department and Marion County Sheriff's Office.

Led by local business owner Jill Chitwood, the Marion K9 Project, created by members of the Marion Business Builders Chapter of BNI, collected and donated the money to the two law enforcement agencies. Chitwood, owner of Sights Unseen Travel and president of the Marion Business Builders Chapter, said MPD received $20,700 and MCSO received $20,500. Checks were presented during a press conference held last Friday at the sheriff's office.

"It's been fantastic," Chitwood said of the fundraising project. "It's great to be able to take care of the community that takes care of you and protects you. When you're able to give back, it's even better to make sure they have what they need to be able to protect you even more. Being able to raise the money and the funds that we did, we were able to do so much more for both of the departments and we're thrilled about that."

More: Marion K-9 Project seeks help adding pups to local law enforcement

More: Celebrating the career of Marion Police Department K9 officer Lt. Six

Marion Police Chief Jay McDonald said the fundraising project sends a positive message to the law enforcement officers who serve Marion County residents on a daily basis.

"It tells the men and women who serve this community that the community supports them and officers don't feel that way all across the country, but they do feel that way here," McDonald said. "I think that is so important to the officers who are out working so hard to know that this community supports them. In relation to the K9s, it enables us to have a K9 unit with two dogs.

"If we had to rely on city general fund dollars only, it would be very hard for us to come up with the thousands and thousands of dollars it costs to buy a dog from Europe, bring them here, train them, and equip the handler with the equipment they need to be a successful K9 unit. "And we have a very successful K9 unit in Marion with Lt. (Richard) Wheeler, Lt. (Mark) Elliott, and Det. (Colin) Lowe."

Wheeler is the handler for K9 Joker, a Belgian Malinois. Elliott was the handler for the recently-retired K9 Six, an 11-year-old Belgian Malinois who served the department for nearly nine years. Lowe is the handler for K9 Stash, an English Springer Spaniel.

The Marion Police Department is in the process of selecting a new K9 officer to replace Six, who is now living with Elliott and his family in retirement. Elliott will remain part of the MPD K9 unit and is in the process of selecting a new dog to join the department. McDonald said he expects Elliott to begin training with the new dog later this month.

"We expect, with the assistance of (Storm Dog Tactical) and with the expertise of Lt. Elliott, that that dog will be on the street before the year is out," McDonald said.

The Marion K9 Project raised $41,200 for K9 units at the Marion Police Department and Marion County Sheriff's Office. MPD received $20,700 and MCSO received $20,500 to benefit their respective K9 units.
The Marion K9 Project raised $41,200 for K9 units at the Marion Police Department and Marion County Sheriff's Office. MPD received $20,700 and MCSO received $20,500 to benefit their respective K9 units.

Sheriff Matt Bayles said the donation from the Marion K9 Project was a "big boost" for the MCSO K9 program.

"We did just purchase two K9s last year, but we can use the money," he said. "We can put it in the bank and save it for the next time we need a dog or some extra training for our current K9 handlers."

Bayles said K-9 Deputy Comet works with Deputy Sam Staley and K-9 Deputy Viking works with Deputy John Endicott. Bayles said donations from the Elgin Local School District and River Valley Local School District helped to fund the purchase and training of K-9 Deputy Comet and K-9 Deputy Viking.

Bayles said the support that MCSO receives from the local community is "incredible" given the negative attitude so many people in society have had towards law enforcement over the past several years.

"For the past three or four years, it seems like people have been so down on law enforcement around the country and that's been reflected in the recruiting of new law enforcement officers," Bayles said. "But this shows that not everybody is against law enforcement. I think the people of Marion County have been behind law enforcement the entire time. This will show people who may have steered away from a law enforcement career because of the negative things that have been said over the past couple of years that there are people out there that do support them and do support law enforcement. I think it's incredible that they were able to raise this amount of money."

Bayles pointed out that local businessman Brad Belcher also donated $13,000 to support the project.

"I think that's outstanding. It's above and beyond," Bayles said.

Chitwood said organizers of the Marion K9 Project plan to continue fundraising efforts in the future and will try to support other local agencies that assist animals.

"Since both of the departments have sufficient funds at this time, we're going to look at ways that we can help the (Marion County Dog Pound) and the (Marion Area) Humane Society or anything that is pertaining to dogs in Marion County, maybe the (Kaufman) dog park (located at 2375 Harding Highway E.)," she said. "We'll see if we can help (the other agencies) out since a new dog is not going to be needed (by the police department or sheriff's office) right away."

Chitwood said anyone interested in supporting the Marion K9 Project can contact her at 740-262-6891 or go to the Marion K9 Project page on Facebook.

Email: ecarter@gannett.com | Twitter: @AndrewACCarter 

This article originally appeared on Marion Star: A helping paw: Marion K9 Project raises $41,200 for local K9 units