When a law enforcement officer can no longer report for duty, leave it to the community to bring support to the front line.
Sherri Aaron, wife of Mansfield Police Chief Tracy Aaron, is the mastermind behind a fundraising event honoring the family of injured Fort Worth Police Officer Matt Pearce.
Aaron and her team have organized a fundraiser for Monday, March 28 with city police associations and various Chick-Fil-A’s across the area to raise money for the family of Officer Pearce.
“Chick-Fil-A is very good about being able to do fundraisers like this,” Aaron said. “They really do support the men and women in blue in law enforcement.”
She said she and her staff would like to raise $50,000 for the family of Officer Pearce.

The restaurant locations are donating 20-percent of their sales between 5 and 9 p.m. Monday to the family of Officer Pearce. Aaron said some locations are donating 20-percent of their sales from the entire day. T-shirts honoring the wounded officer will also be sold at the various restaurant locations, and donations for the family will be accepted.
Aaron said the fundraiser will help support the officer’s family financially, as Officer Pearce continues his recovery.
One reason this fundraiser is so important Aaron said is because it focuses on helping the family of an officer who has been injured, which is different than if an officer is killed in the line of duty. She said that while there are many foundations that support a family for an officer who is killed, that’s not always the case for one who is injured. Officers who are injured can receive worker’s compensation, but Aaron said that’s considered “nothing.”
“A lot of officers have to work part-time, so if an officer loses all of his part-time, it puts a financial burden on the entire family,” Aaron said. “This [support] will help relieve some of the financial burden while Officer Pearce can hopefully make a full recovery.”
Aaron said many have expressed wanting to get behind the fundraiser and the family of Officer Pearce.
“When we first started preparing for the fundraiser, Burleson reached out to us expressing how much they wanted to be involved,”Aaron said. “Then, Benbrook contacted us, along with Fort Worth. It’s just been an outpouring of everyone wanting to help.”

Aaron said law enforcement officers will be at each Chick-Fil-A location directing traffic.
“The Police Officer Associations within these cities, they’re joining together,” Aaron said. “They want to stand shoulder-to-shoulder to show their support for the Fort Worth Police Department and for Officer Pearce.”
Aaron said social media has been an effective way people are showing their support for the officer and his family and that the Pearce family has been keeping up with.
“We chose the hashtag ‘#TeamPearce’ because we wanted people to take a picture with the shirt and tag it,” Aaron said. “It means so much to them to see everyone’s support and to see this event blossom throughout the community.”

Officer Pearce is still recovering at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth, Texas. He was shot multiple times last Tuesday during an on-foot chase.