All first responders who work from Hempstead and Lafayette Counties are urged to attend, where one member of their households will be treated to a shopping spree among the donated merchandise set up on 30 tables. In addition, grilled burger meals will be served and children will be entertained by bouncy castles and games. 

City police, county deputies and jail personnel, city firefighters and volunteer firefighters in the county, state troopers and state highway police, ambulance EMTs, emergency call center workers and Arkansas Game and Fish employees who bring their IDs or their lanyards will be allowed a given time period to go on a shopping spree in the Coliseum. They’ll even be provided with assistant shoppers to carry their chosen items.  While parents are busy with the spree, children will be supervised as they play on the equipment and games provided outside.  In the event of rain, all these will be moved into the Coliseum. Bless the Badges will run from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. 

Calvary Baptist Church of Hope Pastor Gary Johnson said a committee has been meeting regularly to plan the event since this past spring.  He said the idea for this event came from his learning of a similar event taking place in neighboring Miller County and in Bowie County in Texas and then discussion turning to doing something similar in Hope. Lafayette County, with its 50 first responder personnel, was added to Hempstead’s 500. 

Johnson described the way responsibilities were divided up among committee members. “They just went around at some point, and people volunteered. I took publicity. This person took cooking. This person took buying food. This person took games for the children. So different people from different churches volunteered for different parts.” 

The merchandise provided by churches and other sponsors is geared toward young people establishing households. Johnson said the event in Texarkana had a fishing boat, big screen TVs and kitchenware. So far, Johnson said, about $17,000 has been donated to the event. 

Churches from Hope, Lewisville, Stamps and Texarkana are lending their efforts to the event, as is the office of Hempstead County Sheriff James I. Singleton.