Fundraiser Held for Families of Fallen Police Officers

By Journalist Ms. Jones

HAMPTONBURGH – On Saturday, March 19th, The Country Club at Otterkill held a fundraiser to support the families of NYPD Officers Wilbert Mora and Jason Rivera. The officers were murdered in January in Harlem when they responded to a domestic violence call. They were both posthumously promoted to detectives. They were part of the 32nd precinct.

“I was a sergeant in the 32. I’m in a position of life now, retired, owning a company…They sacrificed everything for us. So, we’re gonna give back. Let’s give back to the families,” said Rick Hewitt, owner of Blue Eagle Security, who organized the fundraiser and is a member of Otterkill Golf & Country Club. “We have buffet food for everybody. We have a DJ. We have cigar rolling from Carlito’s Cigar Lounge in Middletown. Everybody donated their things to us to make this happen.”

The donations were plentiful. The raffle prizes were donated by the public. They included a 55” TV, an Empire State Building VIP Tour, NY Ranger tickets, NBA and MLB Swag Bags, golfing packages, autographed baseballs, bottles of wine, clothing and restaurant gift cards, and more.

Otterkill Golf &Country Club was full of police officers from all different precincts from New York City to Orange County. Even the disc jockey, DJ Rey, was a police officer. But no one knew Detectives Mora and Rivera like the officers who worked with them.

“I just know them from just working with them…They were both…really good guys… They were amazing cops… They paid the ultimate sacrifice, doing what we all do every day,” said Officer Myra Sanchez who teared up when talking about her “brothers in blue” who she worked with at the 32nd precinct.

The fundraiser was family friendly. There were bouncy houses for the kids. People could use props and take photos at a photobooth. DJ Rey played music that all ages danced to like “The Cha Cha Slide.”

“We know that a lot of families were traveling. We wanted to include them. We were able to get the bouncy houses in and have a lot of other options for kids so that people didn’t feel like, especially during the day, that they would have to find a babysitter and they can come, especially when they’re traveling from the city,” said Erin Pascual, Managing Partner of the Country Club at Otterkill. “We’re very involved in the community… We hope to continue doing a lot of community-based events.”

Journalist Ms. Jones