Headquartered right here in Chattanooga, the Fellowship of Christian Peace Officers has brought spiritual comfort to men and women serving in the U.S. law enforcement community for 45 years.
It also has been a longtime participant in the charity golf tournament business, beginning in 2001, when it began a fundraiser to help Sgt. John Baker with medical expenses as he fiercely fought a losing fight against pancreatic cancer. The event continued for another 14 years, much of the money going to help Baker's widow Zina. Yet with profits declining of late, FCPO executive director Paul Lee and his board decided to shut the tournament down this past year, noting, "We'd hit our limit."
Fortunately for all those it serves, the FCPO soon had second thoughts about that decision. Instead of ending it, Lee said they elected to "bump it up a notch."
And within the Volunteer State, no one can deliver a bump for the good better than former University of Tennessee football coach Phillip Fulmer, who generously agreed to host the inaugural Fellowship of Christian Peace Officers Celebrity Classic golf tournament on June 13 at Black Creek Club.
"I'm excited," Fulmer said Tuesday during a news conference at the club. "A lot of young men I've coached have gone into law enforcement or security-type fields. These wonderful men and women put their lives at risk every day to keep us safe. I hope everyone will come out and support them at the tourney, or as a sponsor."
For more info
Anyone wishing to learn more about FCPO or the tournament can do so at www.fcpo.org.
The organization's mission is clearly important. According to its own statistics, one policeman in this country commits suicide every 17 hours. A stunning 75 percent have been divorced. About 40 percent have been involved in domestic abuse. Twenty-five percent abuse alcohol or prescription drugs.
Yet the FCPO's research also shows that of the 468 law enforcement couples who have attended its marriage retreat program, only eight couples (1.7 percent) have become divorced.
Supported by both Chick-fil-A's Winshape Retreat Center and our town's Maclellan Foundation, the FCPO is clearly respected and more important than ever to its 2,000 or more active members and 50 chapters.
"These brave men and women do it for us, for little pay - do it from the heart," Lee said. "We all owe of them so much."
Fulmer isn't expected to be the only area football legend to elevate the tournament. Former NFL great Gerald Riggs Sr. will be on hand. So, too, former University of Tennessee at Chattanooga coach and Buffalo Bills general manager Buddy Nix, as well as the star receiver of Tennessee's 1998 title team: Peerless Price.
But if anyone in the Volunteer State seems determined to help almost everyone in need, it's Fulmer. He was in Chattanooga not two months ago helping raise much-needed money for a gym for Normal Park School.
Next month will find him continuing his fundraising efforts for the Pat Summitt Foundation and its goal to cure Alzheimer's, which Fulmer's mother is battling.
There's also the work he's put in to help rebuild the East Tennessee State football program as a paid consultant, and his lifelong devotion to UT football, even after the Vols parted company with him at the close of the 2008 season.
"Well, my golf game's a lot better than it was eight years ago," Fulmer said with a chuckle Tuesday. "I've gotten out to watch (spring) practice a couple of times, but I've got a conflict on Saturday (the Orange-White game) so I won't be there then."
What he has seen has impressed him, however.
"They look good," said the man who won the 1998 national championship. "They've got a lot of talent. Of course, as a coach, I'm probably asking the same questions of this team I asked of my own each spring. Have we got enough defensive linemen? Is the offensive line blocking the way it needs to? Can our quarterback make the throws he needs to make?
"But they've got a chance to have a really big year."
He also had something to say about the NCAA striking down these youth football camps that Michigan and others wished to stage in enemy territory - i.e., SEC country.
"It all depends on where you are," he said. "There may be more talent in Dade and Broward counties (around Miami, Fla.) than in Tennessee, Kentucky and Arkansas combined. What it hurts is the mid-major level players who may not get seen as much. I actually kind of liked the idea. But it's a moot point now. It's over."
As the news conference was wrapping up, someone asked the FCPO's Lee if he was a big Fulmer fan.
"I am now," he said. "No, I've been a fan forever. I'll never forget the national championship. And I had the hoarseness to prove it. If (Fulmer) will just sign my UT hat when he comes back for the tournament, that's all I could ask for."
Well, that and Fulmer convincing at least a few of the participants to sign really big checks to help the FCPO.
Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com.