Blue Lights College

l to r: Barbara Faber, Kathy Faber, Wayne Faber

Last month we missed both of our regular meetings due to snow.  This month we made up for lost time! We began our meeting by installing a new member.  Lion Kathy Faber is the daughter of Lion Barbara Faber, Lion Gil Faber (deceased) and sister of Past District Governor Wayne Faber who had the honor of performing the installation ceremony.  We have been waiting a long time for Kathy, but now she is part of the Apex Lions family as well.  Welcome Lion Kathy!  We look forward to many years of service with you.

Captain Jacques Gilbert, Apex Police

Our guest speaker this evening was Captain Jacques Gilbert from the Apex Police Department.  He spoke to us this evening about his latest endeavor, a two year prep school for the police academy called Blue Lights College.  Their goal is to train a new generation of police officers to approach conflict with compassion.  Jacques started by telling us the unlikely story of he became a police officer himself.  As a child he was taught to not trust the police and there was very little in his childhood to indicate that he would have made law enforcement a career.  But when he was a meter reader he was encouraged by a man named Phil Howard.  You are probably aware that there are certain places in the US where tensions between police and communities are stressed.  When Chief David Brown lost several officers in Dallas his response to the community was: “We’re Hiring!”  Jacques believes that this was the perfect response because it effectively sends the message that the solution to the problem is for the people of the community and the police to work together to understand each other better.  What better way to have that happen than for a person in the community to become an officer!  Jacques has a passion for this so he is doing what he can to help mend these relationships by training a new generation of officers to approach conflict with compassion through Blue Lights College.  The pillars are Faith, Purpose and Trust.  Blue Lights College teaches the things that are not taught in the Police Academy which add the depth of understanding and compassion that can change the way police and communities see each other.  If you would like to learn more about Blue Lights College, you can find them by phone at (919) 589-254 0r online at BlueLightsCollege.org or Facebook or Twitter (@BlueLightsColl).

Beth Cordeaux, Executive Director, Western Wake Crisis Ministry receives a check from Lion Jolene Umbenhauer

Finally, we had the privilege of providing a check for $1500 to Beth Bordeaux of Western Wake Crisis Ministry.  We love to assist in the great work done by the Crisis Ministry as much as we can and this year we dedicated our tail twister funds (and a bit more) to this great organization.  Beth hinted that there are some exciting new programs in the works so we will need to make sure we get her on the schedule for an upcoming meeting to hear more about that.