Safety Forces Support Center

12/18/2025

Hello SFSC community and supporters!
Tuesday we held our annual delivery of Christmas Cheer to some of our most cherished folks....retired safety force members that might be struggling through a life challenge, or a widow of our blue, red and yellow families.
Every year volunteers, both active and retired first responders and civilian employees, come together and deliver to over 250 people.
The response is always so incredible and heart warming!
We want our retired members and widows to know they are NOT FORGOTTEN. We love them and want them to know the Safety Forces Support Center is here for them too!
We want to say a special THANK YOU to these people and companies that donated and made these gifts possible.

Gardner Pie Co donated a pie for every single person!! They've done this several years in a row. Thank you to Garnder Pie Co.!

The ADM Board gave a very generous 4K donation that made it possible for us to add something very special to each gift bag....a throw blanket with the SFSC logo. Thank you ADM Board!

Hickory Harvest donated a large container of chocolate covered pretzels for each bag! Thank you Hickory Harvest!

The Pearl Coffee Co gave a small bag of coffee for each bag. Thank you Pearl Coffee!

Cindy Darrow made Buckeyes for each bag...thank you Cindy!

Dian's Dream and Designs made homemade Christmas cards for each bag...thank you Dian!

The FOPA put together goodie bags of cookies/candy for each gift bag....Thank you Mary Davidson and FOPA!!

We appreciate everyone in the community and on this page that give us such support.
Thank you and MERRY CHRISTMAS!!
KB 🤶🎄

11/27/2025

09/21/2025

NO ONE is immune. Life comes at you hard. Sometimes it feels too heavy, too much. These are some great DEPRESSION TIPS for ANYONE:

Shower. Not a bath, a shower. Use water as hot or cold as you like. You don’t even need to wash. Just get in under the water and let it run over you for a while. Sit on the floor if you gotta.

Moisturize everything. Use whatever lotion you like.

Put on clean, comfortable clothes.

Drink cold water. Use ice. If you want, add some mint or lemon for an extra boost.

Clean something. Doesn’t have to be anything big. Organize one drawer of a desk. Wash five dirty dishes. Do a load of laundry. Scrub the bathroom sink.

Blast music. Listen to something upbeat and dancy and loud, something that’s got lots of energy. Sing to it, dance to it, even if you suck at both.

Make food. Don’t just grab a granola bar to munch. Take the time and make food. Even if it’s ramen. Add something special to it, like a soft boiled egg or some veggies. Prepare food, it tastes way better, and you’ll feel like you accomplished something.

Make something. Write a short story or a poem, draw a picture, color a picture, fold origami, crochet or knit, sculpt something out of clay, anything artistic. Even if you don’t think you’re good at it. Create.

Go outside. Take a walk. Sit in the grass. Look at the clouds. Smell flowers. Put your hands in the dirt and feel the soil against your skin.

Call someone. Call a loved one, a friend, a family member, call a chat service if you have no one else to call. Talk to a stranger on the street. Have a conversation and listen to someone’s voice. If you can’t bring yourself to call, text or email or whatever, just have some social interaction with another person. Even if you don’t say much, listen to them. It helps. (You can always call/text/message me!)

May seem small or silly to some, but this list keeps people alive.

* At your absolute best you won’t be good enough for the wrong people. But at your worst, you’ll still be worth it to the right ones. Remember that. Keep holding on.

* In case nobody has told you today I Love you and you are worth your weight and then some in gold, so be kind to yourself and most of all keep pushing on!!!!

***People don’t fake depression.. they fake being ok.

Find something to be grateful for!

US National Su***de Prevention Lifeline
Hours: Available 24 hours. Languages: English, Spanish. 800-273-8255

07/14/2025

Our 2025 Goodyear Blimp Ride winners were Mike and Karla Schultz! Here are some pictures of their trip! Looks like they had a fantastic day for it! Thank you so much Mike and Karla!!!

06/29/2025

06/19/2025

Here they are! Pictures from the 2025 Reverse Raffle and Silent Auction. Feel free to download and share!

06/14/2025

03/12/2025

We are SOLD OUT!!!

Have you ever wanted to fly on the Goodyear Blimp??
HERE IS YOUR CHANCE!
Come to the Safety Forces Support Center Reverse Raffle/Silent Auction on Friday April 25 and you will have the opportunity to bid on this once in a lifetime experience!! If you are the lucky winner, you will receive a certificate for a 45-minute flight for 2 seats on the world-famous Goodyear Blimp!!
You can get your tickets at this link: https://safetyforcescenter.org/answer-the-call/
TICKETS ARE ALMOST SOLD OUT, SO DON'T WAIT!!

01/29/2025

I sat down to polish my boots today.
I try to keep up on that so when I'm invited into a strangers home their first impression of me is clean, calming, and put together. It's the least I can do to present myself in a professional manner & it got me thinking..thinking about how many homes these boots have walked through on the worst, or scariest days of that residence life.
It got me thinking about all the times I've walked calmly into the least calm of situations in homes, on highways, in the middle of nowhere. The times the "invitation" into that home was a frantic scream from a back bedroom or the basement. All the times these boots have rushed out of those homes with a loved one on the stretcher, calling "Do not try to follow us!" behind me. Or worse, the times I've stood in these boots, holding back my own tears and feelings, while explaining to a family why it's too late. Why we can't do anything more.
Like these boots we can cover it up and polish ourselves up to look fresh, revived, unbothered...but like these boots the scars of what we have seen & been through are still there.
There was a time when I would polish these boots and you'd think they were brand new, but now it shows through. Those tiny grooves you never noticed before are long, deep scars. That little scuff is now a tear in the thick leather...eventually we can't cover it up anymore.

Eventually, all those little things build into damage beyond repair...if we don't address it, and just keep covering it up they keep building and building until the boot breaks.
So I'll polish my boots today, and hope nobody notices the scars underneath.

Credit to Joanna Jelencic JJ - 16527 .86

01/24/2025

🎶2 Big Announcements!!!🚒🚑
But 1st, a quick Soap Box background :
We’re a local band from Akron, Ohio. All 5 of us are on the Akron Fire Department, and 2 of us happen to be brothers. As with any high stress, fast paced, and often traumatizing job, the mental health of its employees should never be taken lightly. How can we help you if we can’t help ourselves? Everybody needs a hobby, friends to lean on, and their own personal escape. This band combines all 3 of these things.
Soap Box has served as a form of musical therapy for us. It’s helped us cope with work related stress and PTSD in a healthy way, rather than leaning on the crutch of alcohol. Actually, 2 of us are nearing 1 year of sobriety! Music Saves Minds.
🚨Announcement #1 :
Next week we are being featured on 107.3 Alternative Cleveland during Live and Local with Aaron Lux! The segment kicks off at 9pm on Friday 1/31/25. They’ll be playing one of our original songs “Sunburnt”, along with a brief bio, and the song’s background. Huge thank you to Brady Marks, Aaron Lux, and the rest of 1073 ALT CLE.
I wrote the song “Sunburnt” in reference to my own journey with depression, and the time I wasted numbing it with alcohol. I think it’s important to be open about our mental health, and our self-medicating vices. Asking and getting help needs to be normalized, rather than looked upon as weakness. It’s Okay to not be Okay. It’s far too often that the mental health of a first responder is overlooked, until it’s too late.
Underneath those uniforms is just another human being. Black, White, Red, Yellow :
We Are All The Same. We love, we laugh, we hurt, we scar, we have families at home feeling the direct impact of our internal struggles and triumphs.
In this song, the Sun represents happiness.
This goes for every one of us, uniform or not :
☀️Keep chasing the sun.
Even if you feel burnt out, it’s still better than being cold and numb.
🎞️The music video for “Sunburnt” can be found below in the comment section
🚨Announcement #2 :
Soo excited to say that we are scheduled to play at Upper Deck Bar & Grill on Portage Lakes’ opening weekend, Saturday May 24th (Memorial Day weekend) along with our friends Mike Bailey & 12 Gauge Suede. Huge thank you to Matthew Coleman and the rest of the Deck’s staff for the opportunity!
Rarely do we ask for anything in return. But a simple Like, a Comment, a SHARE, helps us bring music to more ears. Follow our page, come hear what we have to play. Thank you all so much for your support 🙏 Tune in to hear us on 107.3 FM next Friday , and come shake the lake with us in May!!!
Everybody needs a platform to express themselves.
Everybody needs a Soap Box.

♥️J-M Willoughby & the rest of Soap Box

🧼📦Soap Box (order as pictured) :
James Yager - Bass
Casey Willoughby - Guitar
Jon-Michael Willoughby - Guitar / Vocals
Mark Burkhart - Drums
Zack Daugherty - Vocals

#️⃣ #️⃣ #️⃣⬇️⬇️⬇️
Akron

12/18/2024

Yesterday, the SFSC delivered 243 baskets to some of the retired first responders from Summit County. The baskets contained items donated by the FOP auxiliary, Cindy Darrow, Hickory Harvest, Dian’s Dreams and Designs, Pearl Coffee, and Gardner pie. We could not do this without the help these businesses. Thank you to all who came out to help deliver the baskets, we couldn't do this without you! Merry Christmas