Formed in 1990, the Burlington County 200 Club is a non-profit, charitable organization with the main objective of providing financial assistance to the families of first responders who have lost their lives or have been seriously injured in the line of duty. Oftentimes, it can be several weeks or months before any insurance proceeds are provided — the goal of the Club is to provide financial assistance during this time. The gift from the 200 Club is immediate, has no strings attached, and can be used for any purpose — bills, groceries, etc.
However, to accomplish this important goal, the Club is dependent upon the membership fees and donations from our members & sponsors.
In addition to the financial assistance pro- vided to families of injured or fallen first respond- ers, the 200 Club of Burlington County also pro- vides additional benefits to our exemplary first re- sponder community — in the form of scholarships for higher education for first responders (or their immediate families), advanced training awards, and recognition of our first responders at our annual awards dinner in February. Also, in recognition of the tremendous impact the events of 9/11 had upon our nation as a whole and the first responder community, the Club holds an annual memorial service and breakfast at Trinity Church in Moorestown.
Despite nearly 30 years of service to the first responders community, very few people outside of the emergency response community know of the existence of our Club and its important purpose. Please consider joining our club and also discussing the Club and its goals with people within the community. The cost to join the Club is $200 for the first year and $100 per year thereafter.
Over the past 27 years, the 200 Club of Burlington County has provided hundreds of thousands of dollars for the aid of first responders and their immediate families. While the Club’s primary objective has been to provide financial assistance to the families of injured or fallen first responders, through the dedication of our membership, we have also been able to provide additional financial assistance to the emergency response community. Below is a brief list of the ways in which our organization has provided financial assistance to the first responder community:
Higher Education Scholarships: At the annual awards dinner, the Club makes available up to four (4) scholarships of $2,500. To date, the Club has provided over $185,000 for higher education. Importantly, these scholarships can be used by either first responders or their immediate families. Scholarships are awarded based on responses to an essay question and are awarded at our annual dinner.
Advanced Training Awards: The Club annually awards up to four (4) awards in the amount of $1,500 for the training or equipment of police, fire, or EMS. Especially in this time of shrinking municipal budgets, these awards have proven invaluable to training and equipping Burlington County’s first responders. The Club has provided tens of thousands of dollars for these purposes. Helping to ensure that Burlington County’s first responders have access to advanced training and cutting-edge equipment allows our first responders to provide better service to the community while simultaneously enhancing the safety of our first responders.
While it is the Club’s sincere hope that we never again have to award an injury or death benefit to the family of a first responder, we all know that the reality of emergency response is that this hope is unrealistic. In recognition of the fact that it can sometimes take weeks or months before the family members receive any insurance payments, the 200 Club was born. The purpose of the Club is to provide immediate financial assistance to the families of injured or fallen officers to help assist in those emotional and trying first few days. The club provides a financial benefit of up to $10,000 for a first responder who is injured or killed in the line of duty.
Of course, the financial gift does little to aid in the grief the family may be experiencing, but the hope of the Club is that the gift can provide some measure of relief so that family members are not worried about how they will pay for bills or buy groceries. The immediate gift also reminds the family that they are not alone, but have an entire community of support.
The Burlington County 200 Club is saddened, but also proud to say that, over its more than 35 years of existence, it has provided tens of thousands of dollars to the families of injured or fallen officers. These funds are typically provided within a day or two of the incident. The funds are provided to be used for any purpose with no strings attached.
Our mission is sustained solely by donations and membership fees from our members and corporate sponsors. If you would like to join our important mission, please see the membership application on this form. The cost of membership is $200 for the first year and $100 thereafter.
