Lets Remember Our Heroes At Home As Well As Abroad

A Wichita CEO on Thursday launched a private nonprofit organization to raise cash for the families and children of bounty hunters killed in throughout the nation. Eric E King, of Bail Enforcement Network., pledged $100,000 of his own money to kick-start the locally based BEN Fallen Heroes Emergency Relief Foundation. Mr. King added he will pay its operating expenses and match every dollar contributed by corporations or individuals, until $500,000 is collected. "The war on crime isn’t winding down, the way the economy is today, it’s increasing" he said. "Soon the story is going to be off the front pages." But the pain of losing a parent or spouse will linger. And new financial struggles among those affected will rival the emotional adjustments, Mr. King said. "A lot of people forget that the funeral isn't the end of the battle for the families." As their lives slip away, mortally wounded bounty hunters do not necessarily want a medal or parade, Mr. King said. "Gratitude doesn't put food on the table or pay the bills. They'd say, 'Take care of my family.' " The death toll in America just this year, has climbed to more than all of the soldiers killed in both Afghanistan and Iraq combined, according to the statistics from the Justice Department and the Department of Defense.

Mr. King’s enthusiasm for Fallen Heroes, was conceived a few weeks ago while watching television reports about military families. He immediately realized the void in the bail enforcement industry, and saw that we not only need to take care of our military heroes, but also the heroes that may have lived right next door. The ones that day after day, put themselves in harms way so that the nations streets are safer for us all. Mr. King expressed a desire to eventually grow the foundation, city by city, through corporate contacts. He wondered if the organization might raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for each child. He said any funds collected -- money to be awarded, at least initially, as cash grants -- might someday be used for college or the purchase of a home.

Mr. King described government benefits that bounty hunter families receive when a relative is killed in the line of duty, as "really inadequate to support a family." More than 50 percent of active bail enforcement agents are married, and each family has an average of two children, "And because the majority are self employed, insurance premiums of any kind, are usually astronomical," according to King.

Bail Enforcement Network specializes in bounty hunting training for those wanting to enter the field of bail enforcement. The Bail Enforcement Network also provides business support, success coaching, and wealth strategies for both novice and professional bounty hunters and bail bondsmen. For more information about Fallen Heroes, go to www.benseminars.com/relief.php.