The financial and emotional burden to the immediate family members of an officer who has fallen victim to a sudden, unexpected, duty-related serious injury or illness requiring emergency medical treatment is substantial. For officers throughout most of Idaho and parts of eastern Oregon and northern Nevada, it is highly likely that, if they were to be injured under such circumstances, they would li
kely be transported to one of the trauma centers or large hospitals in Boise to receive treatment. In consideration of this reality, a benevolent organization has been formed to provide temporary financial and logistical assistance to the families of officers injured in the line of duty – as described above – and transported to a Boise-area hospital for treatment. This organization is called the “512 Fund”, in honor of Boise Police Officer Mark Stall (Badge #512), who was killed in the line-of-duty on September 20th, 1997. The primary purpose of the 512 Fund is to provide emergency financial and logistical assistance to the eligible family members of injured officers from outside the Boise area who may be transported to Boise for emergency medical treatment. The 512 Fund is also available to eligible family members of a similarly-situated local officer who is hospitalized in the Boise area and whose family is coming from out of the area to respond to the situation. The 512 Fund was initially funded by contributions from members of the Boise Police Union (IBPO Local 486). Since then, the 512 Fund has become a Non-Profit Corporation and will continue to be funded by police employee contributions and donations from other individuals and groups. Since being founded in October, 2010, the 512 Fund has already been quite busy. We have now assisted the families of three different Idaho police officers brought to Boise for emergency medical treatment of injuries sustained on-duty. In every case, our efforts have been well-received and appreciated by those families and we hope to be able to continue to serve in that capacity. Being that we have applied for Tax Exempt status through the IRS, we are able to operate as a 501(c)(3) organization. That being the case, all donations made to the 512 Fund are tax-deductible.