In honor of Domestic Violence Awareness Month, Tralee Crisis Center will be hosting Boots vs Badges on Saturday, Oct. 26 at 7 p.m. at the Pampa High School McNeely Fieldhouse. Tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for children and students.
“The firefighters and law enforcement have a basketball game against each other. It’s all volunteers from the Pampa Fire Department, Hoover Fire Department, Pampa Police Department, Gray County Sheriff’s Department and DPS. For them it’s a friendly rivalry, they are just gonna go have fun and see who wins the basketball game. The real winner is Tralee Crisis Center,” said executive director Dee Dee Laramore.
“That will help us raise money to help victims of domestic violence and also help bring some awareness.”
There will also be soft drinks and popcorn available for purchase as refreshments.
Tralee Crisis center helped more than 300 families last year in the Texas Panhandle. They offer emergency shelter for victims of violent crimes, as well as comprehensive support services.
“It hits home. It’s not just numbers and statistics. It touches people and it touches lives. That’s why we are so committed to what we do here, Laramore said.
“Our goal is to give people the courage to be safe and go on to lead good lives. We always like to know that we have made a difference in people’s lives. That’s our reward.”
Travis Plumlee started Tralee Crisis Center in the 1980s and Laramore is honored to know and tell the story of Tralee’s beginnings.
“He [Plumlee] was a social worker at the hospital here. He had a different name at that time. They [hospital] kept referring women that had been beaten up or sexually assaulted to him. He had no place for them, no way to help them. He could only do some brief counseling. One night, he had a woman referred to him that had come into the emergency room who had been beaten terribly by her husband, Laramore said. “That same night, he had to let her go back home with her husband because there was no place for her. He [Plumlee] told me himself that he swore to himself that he was never going to let that happen again. He started getting grants and got some volunteers to help pay for hotel stays for victims. He had already moved out of Pampa when Tralee became a reality. He started four or five other Tralee centers.”
The organization has become a part of Laramore’s heart over the years.
“I hope this is my last job,” says Laramore. “I’m here until I retire. I think what we do here is very near to God’s heart.”
For more information about Boots vs Badges or to donate, you can contact Tralee Crisis Center at 806-669-1131.
