Public Safety Fundraiser Scheduled for Saturday

An event being held on Saturday at the Watson Government Complex is aimed at raising money to help local public safety officials in need.

The Paulding County Public Safety & Family Appreciation Day Festival is held every year by Paulding Public Safety Appreciateion, Inc., and all money raised goes into a fund to help officers.

"Anytime there’s a firefighter or police officer or an (EMS employee) who has a need, the board will vote on what type of assistance," said Ashley Henson, the Paulding County Sheriff's Office's public information officer. "It’s a really good cause."

In the last month, the fund has helped two deputies, one whose wife is battling a serious illness and another who lost her husband. The organization also has sponsord a group of firefighters who competed in an ironman-type challenge and gives scholarships to officers whose departments can't pay for them to attend classes.

"It’s a good organization," Henson said.

The event will include food vendors, raffles, a cornhole tournament, two helicopters and bouncy houses for kids, law enforcement displays and vehicles.

"We’ll have a lot of fire trucks, a lot of police cars, an ambulance and personnel," Henson said.

Although the event has moved locations a few times, Henson said he expects attendance to be high this year as it has been in the past.

"We’re very hopefully that attendance will be high again this year," he said. "We’re very hopeful that it will be good location, and we think it will because it’s right off Highway 278."

The event runs from 11 a.m.- 5 p.m.