Charity Highlight: S.O.L.E. Six Foundation

The non-profit life is not a competition. No matter how many 501C(3) charities there are in existence, the reality is that there will never be shortage of those in need. We need to do our very best to support each other in order to ensure that we maximize the amount of people impacted.

As such, when BBO founder Michael Burke sees another charity out there doing good work, the group will do it’s best to highlight them and assist in any way we can.

In that spirit, the first charity to be recognized is the S.O.L.E. Six Foundation (Supporting Our Law Enforcement’s Six), founded by Jonathan “Lucky” Huff of the Quinton Police Department (OK) and his wife, Shannon.

Based out of Panama, Oklahoma, S.O.L.E. Six is a foundation set up to offer assistance to both law enforcement officers and K9’s.

To help get a better understanding of just what the S.O.L.E. Six Foundation is and what the goal is, we asked Jon and Shannon a few quick questions:

Q: What inspired you to start the S.O.L.E. Six Foundation?

A: A lot of people don’t realize it, but approximately 85 – 90 % of officers in this country are known as “RESERVE”, which means that they either volunteer or get paid very little. On average, in Oklahoma, it tends to be $10.00 an hour for a reserve position, working for rural departments that have small budgets. Therefore the officer is usually responsible for acquiring his/her own gear. Crazy, right? Most officers don’t even have body armor. I know this firsthand because I started this way too. The struggle to pay bills and buy hundreds of dollars worth of essential gear is all too real. That’s why my wife Shannon and I started the S.O.L.E.Six Foundation (Supporting Our Law Enforcement’s Six). We take donations of gear and life saving equipment and give it to officers and K9’s free of charge. The only requirement we have is that the recipient be certified or in the process and actively commissioned by a department.

Q: What are the charity’s goals?

A: Our goal is to provide officers and K9’s life saving equipment and essential duty gear free of charge by taking donations as well as working with other non profit organizations.

Q: How can people get involved?

A: We have a Facebook page and we are currently looking at starting a website where we will be selling a few products; all of which will be used to further our mission. We also have a paypal account so that people can donate if they want. Without help we can’t do anything for our brothers and sisters. Our direct e-mail address is: s.o.l.e.sixfoundation@gmail.com

Q: Tell us about your upcoming event.

A: We have several events coming up. On June 24th, 2018, we will be traveling to Colorado. Judy’s Hope Animal Transport is holding their annual silent auction and have made our foundation this year’s recipient. They are also coordinating with us in setting up ‘drop off’ sites for officers to drop off donated duty gear.