2008 OEC EMPLOYEE CHARITY

For the past several years, OEC employees have selected a charitable organization to raise money for throughout the summer. In 2004 we started with the Community Healthcare Foundation which was raising money for an MRI unit for Community Memorial Hospital in Oconto Falls. Employees raised $1,200 for the MRI unit which has greatly benefited Oconto County and the surrounding areas. The next year we selected the Oconto Area Humane Society as the recipient of our fundraising efforts. OEC employees raised $2,500. In 2006 Kingdom Come Food Pantry was the selected charity
and $1,000 was raised. Last year, we raised $1,200 for the Friends of the Oconto Falls
Firefighters. This year employees have chosen the Oconto County K9 Unit to be our employee charity.

Oconto County Sheriff Officers Brad Olsen and Todd Skarban brought their K9 officers,
Shadow and Reno, into the OEC office to give a demonstration to employees.
They explained that each dog is trained to seek out drugs and to track people whether it is a criminal running from the law or a child lost in the woods. K9 officers save the human officers countless hours of searching and the dogs can also be sent into situations that are too dangerous for a person, making the job safer for the human officers.

The demonstration put on by Officers Skarban and Olsen and by Shadow and Reno, gave OEC employees a new appreciation for the work they all do. Not only good for Oconto County, the K9 unit has often assisted other counties in search operations.

Both Shadow and Reno will be retiring in the next few years and the Sheriff’s Department is planning ahead by raising money to purchase the next generation of K9
Officers. These specially trained dogs will cost about $8,000 each and are not part of the Sheriff Department budget.

Many groups and organizations have contributed to the K9 unit and now OEC employees want to help. We have several ideas about ways to raise money throughout the summer.

2008 Upcoming Fundraising Events

Aug 2 Member Appreciation Picnic $1.00 raffle tickets . First prize Autographed
Packer memorabilia, Bake Sale, OEC T-shirts from past picnics - $10 each

Aug 15 Brat Fry at Witt.s Piggly Wiggly in Oconto Falls 11 AM-1:30 PM

Sept 6 Falls Fun Fest . Decorate a T-shirt. Purchase a white T-shirt and decorate it with paint filled squirt guns. What a blast! Look for OEC in the vendor area at Memorial Field.

Oct 31 Bag lunches delivered! A huge success for the past two years . OEC will deliver a bag lunch to any business in Oconto Falls.

Pictured: Officer Brad Olsen and K9 Officer Reno.