DOVER, Del.- Jeepers Back The Blue is revving up for a weekend to honor police officers lost while on duty and giving back to their families.
Admission is twenty dollars per jeep and twenty dollars to ride on the speedway track. All the proceeds going to the Jeepers Back the Blue Foundation and the FOP scholarship fund, that allows children of fallen law enforcement officers to go to college and accomplish their goals and lift financial burdens off of families. Founder Jeff Lehnert leads the charge for the event.
"To be able to sit there and reach out to a department who just lost one of theirs and say listen we have an event and we have a chance to raise money and we want to help out the family and tell them what we are doing," Lehnert said. "It is very impactful and their appreciation is just unbelievable and that is enough for what we do."
According to their website, The Jeepers Back The Blue Foundation has raised just over eighty thousand dollars over the past two years.The money has been distributed to families in twelve states. Members of the board said they have raised about seventy-five thousand dollars already this year.
The Jeep community says it has always been supportive of police officers. Volunteers like Katelyn Lockard also feel that the community makes the event successful every year.
"The Jeep community is a big family and there are events all over the place," Lockard said. "You bring an event to the Jeep community, they all come together as one in order to raise as much money as possible. With Jeff being a Jeep owner, that kind of brought everything together with the event. "
Saturday will be the day when most of the vendors and food trucks will be serving the event attendees. The day kicks off with the jeeps circling around the track.
Giving back to those who had someone near and dear to them pay the ultimate sacrifice.
Today's events at Jeepers Back The Blue ends at 7 p.m. The festivities are from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday and includes a Jeep convoy around the track.