|  | Welcome to BAlEAF BALEAF is a nonprofit charity with a single mission - to assist Bay Area law enforcement officers and their families who have experienced a member killed in the line of duty, suffered a serious injury or illness, or similar catastrophic event. We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit charity. 100% of your donation is awarded directly to the officers and their families. 100% of the administrative expenses are covered personally by the Board. Guaranteed! Donate to BALEAF today! |
About BaleafIn 1998 BALEAF's coverage area stretches from the Wine Country in the north to Silicon Valley in the south, from the shores of the Pacific to the edge of the Central Valley, housing more than 7 million people in nine counties and 101 cities. The nine counties that are supported by BALEAF are Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano and Sonoma. BALEAF has occasionally awarded outside of this area when approved by the Board. HOW DO WE OPERATE? 100% of your donation goes to the law enforcement families! PERIOD! PLUS, BALEAF's low administrative expenses are covered personally by the Board Members through their annual voluntary donation. These are two of the many reasons donating to BALEAF is very sensible. To date, BALEAF provided support and assistance to sworn and non-sworn employees of agencies throughout Northern California in an amount of over $2M! This amount was wholly made possible by generous donations from our supporters. Recipients included members of Police Departments, Sheriff's Offices, Dispatchers, District Attorney's Office, Probation Departments, California Highway Patrol. |
DONATERead the information on our Donation page for details on how to donate to BALEAF. BALEAF is recognized by America's Best Charities.
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Additional History | From the President, Fabian Brown |
For those of you who may not be aware of the history of BALEAF, the organization was established in 1999 as a means to assist law enforcement personnel and their families in their time of need. It was initially formed to assist the widows of San Francisco Police officers who had passed away from both natural causes and line of duty deaths. Former SFPD Lieutenant, Lynette Hogue, along with former SFPD Chaplain Mike Ryan, current SFPD Chaplain Sister Lillian Repak, and Diane Wolffe, one of the SFPD's Psych Pros, put together a Grief Support Group, and reached out to as many survivors that they knew about and had contact information for, and invited them to come to a meeting. At one point, there were approximately 20 people attending the monthly meetings at any given time. For many of these survivors, it had been the first time that anyone from the Department had reached out to them since their loved ones had died!
During those meetings, they heard story after story about how financially impacted they were upon the death of their family members. There were delays in their final payout from the Department, as well as from insurance policies they had, and they had bills to pay. It put an additional strain on them that they shouldn't have had to deal with during their time of grief. Lynette and Mike, along with former Directors of the SFPD Behavioral Science Unit, Al Benner and Forrest Fulton, began discussing the possibility of forming a non-profit organization to help these family members financially, not just for the SFPD, but for all Bay Area law enforcement agencies. Mike drew up by-laws and the application for non-profit status, and they were submitted, and accepted, and BALEAF was born!
BALEAF is proud to say that 100% of your donations go directly towards assisting, both sworn and civilian members of Bay Area law enforcement agencies! Annual personal donations made by BALEAF's Board of Directors pay for all administrative costs incurred by the organization throughout the year, along with some donations that are made specifically for that purpose.
| Contact Us | Address: BALEAF |
