About LEO Only
For All of Us
Our organization officially began in 2014 and was started by a Police Officer, Craig Polen. Unfortunately, the organization began under tragic circumstances when Craig’s best friend from high school, and a fellow State Trooper, decided to take his own life in mid- 2013. As a result of this life changing experience, Craig shared his LEO – Only Face book page, which he had started prior to this event to keep in touch with fellow officers, and transformed it into the organization that we know today. The humble beginnings of a Facebook page, which offered law enforcement officers an outlet to discuss their emotions and to share experiences, has expanded to a world-wide network of law enforcement brothers & sisters. From a membership of ONE, we have now grown into an organization of over 36,500 members world-wide!
Angels don’t always wear wings ….. Some wear badges
Our organization began its’ journey by determining who we were and what we wanted to accomplish. Our focus would center on the children of slain or disabled officers. It was decided that we would raise the funds necessary to ensure that no child of a blue family in need would go without a Christmas! In December of 2013, without even a full year of fundraising, LEO – Only took 23 blue children Christmas shopping. In December of 2014 and 2015 an additional 138 blue children benefitted from our organization’s benevolence. Since that time, our organization has touched the lives of an additional 625 blue children and our ultimate goal is to support each and every one of the children who have sacrificed so much.
Phase Two of our vision became clear to us as the children from those early years started to graduate from high school and sought college educations. With the rising costs of college tuition these older children of slain and disabled officers now required our assistance in meeting the financial demands of obtaining a college education. Thus far, LEO – Only has awarded a $10,000 scholarship in the Fall of 2015. This is a huge commitment from our membership, and although we have touched the life of only one blue child thus far, we are proud and thankful to have had that opportunity. The Scholarship Program is now part of our fundraising efforts and with our membership’s help and committee’s guidance, we look forward to supporting the lives of even more blue children in the future.
The positive effects offered by our organization reach beyond Christmas gifts and educational advantages. We look for opportunities to better the lives of children in many important aspects of life. For example, in August of 2015, LEO – Only sponsored a “therapy dog” for a young Autistic child in Georgia. Without our organization, this young man would not have had the emotional support he needed to attend school and enrich his life. His family did not have the means to provide, but the need was great. LEO – Only has purchased and donated countless bicycles to special needs children who cannot ride the typical bicycles found in most department stores. Following the devastating hurricane that struck Puerto Rico in 2017, LEO – Only collaborated with the Coast Guard (CGIS), local law enforcement, and our membership on the ground to organize a “shopping spree” for the children affected by the storm. Two emissaries from our organization flew to the island and met with our LEO – Only members on the ground. Arrangements had been made and all of the surviving toys on the island were staged at one store. Every child affected by the hurricane was bused to the store and provided with a “shopping spree”. That was when something remarkable took place; the children did not purchase all of the toys that were available to them. No, instead they approached our emissaries and requested permission to purchase food, clothing and medical supplies for their families. This is when we realized our mission was so much greater.
We met the calling again after the California fire devastated so many of our “Blue Families”. God only knows where we may be called to serve this year.
THE POLICEMAN
THROUGH THE CALL OF DUTY OF INTUITION LEAD, THE CRIME DETECTOR FACES THE WORLD, IT IS SAID: GUARDIAN OF THE PEACE, OVERSEER OF PLIGHT, PREPARED TO STAND BY, TO GIVE AID, DEFEND OR FIGHT. MIGHT THE PRAYERS OF THE WORLD PATROL AND LIGHT HIS WAY, SAFELY HOME, TO HIS FAMILY, MAY HE RETURN EACH DAY. WITH DEDICATION TO HIS WORK TO SEE A JUSTICE DONE, HE BECOMES SOCIETY’S SHEPHERD, A BRAVE & SELFLESS ONE!!
POET UNKNOWN
In addition to our benevolent activities, LEO – Only assists our membership by being there in their time of need. We have averted numerous suicide attempts of our brothers & sisters in blue. We provided funeral expenses following the tragic death of a fallen officer whose family did not have the means to cover his funeral following a fiery off duty traffic crash.
LEO – Only has been and will continue to be there for our family in blue!