BENEFITS WITH FRIENDS

Serving society’s protectors

Members of Sheep Dog Impact Assistance help out with tornado damage in Moore, Okla., in 2013. The nonprofit volunteer group’s second annual charity ball is Saturday.
Members of Sheep Dog Impact Assistance help out with tornado damage in Moore, Okla., in 2013. The nonprofit volunteer group’s second annual charity ball is Saturday.

Tracy Reinhold, vice president for global investigations for Walmart, will be the featured speaker at the second annual charity ball to benefit Sheep Dog Impact Assistance. Reinhold is retired from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and served in the U.S. Marine Corps for five years before joining the FBI.

The nonprofit, all-volunteer organization, founded and based in Rogers, serves current and former members of the military, law enforcement, fire and rescue and other first response professionals and their families. Programs include emergency financial assistance and Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners and children’s gifts.

Lance Nutt, group founder and Marine Corps and Operation Iraqi Freedom veteran, says “society’s protectors (sheep dogs) are all cut from the same cloth - they all want to give back. It’s important we remember that on a daily basis.”

The organization also focuses on disaster preparedness and disaster relief missions. In 2013, the group sent trailers of food, blankets and other items as well as “chain saw teams” and other helpers to assist with clean up after tornadoes in Moore, Okla., and Brookpoint, Ill.

Since its founding in 2009, the organization has grown to seven chapters and 12 teams working to becoming chapters around the United States.

AT A GLANCE Charity Ball

What: Dinner, dancing, silent auction, keynote address from Tracy Reinhold

When: 5 p.m. Saturday

Where: John Q. Hammons Center in Rogers

Tickets: $47-$65

Attire: Black tie, members of the military and first responders are encouraged to wear their dress uniforms

Information: (479) 466-9713 or

[email protected]

Style, Pages 29 on 02/13/2014

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