They lost their lives in the line of duty, and the public is invited to come out this Sunday to remember them.

A Peace Officer Appreciation Day is being planned at All Saints Anglican Church, starting at 10 a.m.

The guest speaker will be Agassiz RCMP Sgt. Mike McCarthy, who is also a director of the board for the Police & Peace Officers' Memorial Ribbon Society.

He will speak on behalf of the society, for officers who have died in the line of duty.

A lunch and pipers will follow the service. For more information, phone 604-796-3103.

The Police & Peace Officers' Memorial Ribbon Society was established to honour and remember all Officers who have died in the line of duty.

"In using the Memorial Ribbon, as a symbol of mourning, we are able honour those officers," says the society's website.

Through the sale of the Memorial Ribbons (and other memorial Products), the society was able to donate funds to the following, "To Remember our Fallen Heroes":

*WTC Police Disaster Relief Fund

*NYPD Relief Fund

*Wahl Audi Scholarship Fund

*'E' Division RCMP Members Memorial (in Memory of Jimmy Ng)

*'E' Division RCMP Members Memorial

*Alan Kuzmich Memorial Scholarship Fund

*Constable Ellis Trust Fund

*Newfoundland and Labrador Police and Peace Officers' Memorial Association

*BC Law Enforcement Memorial Foundation

*Corporal Antonio Arseneault Family Trust

*Chris Garrett Family Trust Fund

*Chris Garrett Memorial Park

*Glen Evely Trust Fund

* Pargeter Trust Fund

*Fallen RCMP Family Fund - Alberta

*Valerie Gignac Trust Fund

*Nicholas Rochette Trust Fund

*Fernand Vachon Trust Fund

*Strathcona County Memorial Fund (Alberta - in memory of Cpl. Jim Galloway and Cst. Ghislain Maurice)

*Windsor Police Association "Family Trust" (Ontario - in memory of Cst. John Atkinson)

*RCMP 'F' Division SPOF Fund (Saskatchewan - in memory of Cst Marc Bourdage and Cst Robin Cameron)

*Fallen Four Memorial Society - Monument Park in Mayorthorpe (Alberta)

•Daniel Tessier Family Trust (Laval Police -Quebec )

*Randy Payne Family Trust (Canadian Armed Forces - Military Police)

* Christopher Worden Family Trust (Alexis Worden Trust Fund)

* St. Lawrence College Foundation (Douglas Scott Memorial Fund)

* Cst Agostinho Memorial Park - Leduc, AB

* Sgt Larry Young Memorial Park - Vancouver, BC

* RESP for Alexis Lavoie - In Memory of Cst Eric Lavoie: Laval, Quebec

Since 2000, the total funds the Police and Peace Officers' Memorial Ribbon Society has donated to trusts, scholarships, bursaries, monuments, and memorials is $88,000.

Goals of the Society

The Police & Peace Officers' Memorial Ribbon Society is a not-for-profit national society that has been in the making since 1994, and incorporated November 14, 2000.

On January 1, 2008, the Society obtained it's status making it a national charity. The executive is made up of active and retired police and peace officers, and has 'friends of the society' who are sheriffs, corrections officers as well as other police and peace officers.

The Society is using the Peace Officers Memorial Ribbon, a blue over black ribbon looped at the top (similar to other commemorative ribbons) pinned in the middle with a generic badge, as a symbol of awareness and mourning for the death of Peace Officers, in general, while on duty. The black expresses the mourning of a loss, the blue stands for the 'thin blue line', and the generic badge represents all police and peace officers. The generic badge is emblazoned with a maple leaf, a Canadian symbol known and recognized worldwide. The Ribbon is generic enough to permit all uniformed and plainclothes police and peace officers to wear.

The Society hopes to not only make the Ribbon a national symbol, but also an international symbol of awareness and mourning, used whenever a Peace Officer dies in the 'line of duty'.

The Ribbon is also used at the 'Police and Peace Officers Memorial Day' (last Sunday of September) much like how the 'poppy' is used to represent the sacrifices of our war veterans on Remembrance Day.

Objective:

Police Officers, Peace Officers, family, friends and anyone who wishes to mourn and illustrate their support may wear this Ribbon.

All monies collected through purchases of the Ribbon, and donations, would go into the 'Peace Officers' Memorial Ribbon Society' trust account, which in turn would be used to accomplish the following:

1. To promote the effectiveness and efficiency of police and peace officers by having a ribbon campaign to raise awareness about fallen police and peace officers.

2. To assist the families of fallen police and peace officers in dealing with their grief by recommending and coordinating the necessary social services.

3. To give donations for charitable purposes to qualified donees as defined in the Income Tax Act.

4. To help establish memorials for fallen police and peace officers.

5. To provide scholarships to students.

6. To provide funds to needy families of fallen police and peace officers.

http://www.memorialribbon.com/english/history.htm