It has been a long 13 years for the Michigan Law Enforcement Commission to raise money for a memorial to honor Michigan's fallen law enforcement officers .
Today, they received a gift of $100,000 by Delta Dental of Michigan which has them a lot closer to their goal.
A 2004 state law established the memorial fund - to raise money for the construction of a permanent monument that honors all of Michigan's law enforcement officers who have lost their lives in the line of duty.
Even with Delta Dental's generous donation, the commission is still short of its $3 million goal.
"Right now we have to finish raising the funding ," says Teri Battaglieri, Director of Communications , Corporate Citizenship and Philanthropy for Delta Dental of Michigan. " We need $750,000 more ."
With Delta Dental's contribution, fundraising efforts are now at 78 percent.
"So we are hoping that our donation today will serve as a catalyst to other people and other companies will join us in this effort , " she said.
The commission needs to raise the remainder of the money by October 2017 in order to start construction.
John Szczubelek , Attorney General's Office designee for the commission, says there are 18,500 officers working today among 600 agencies throughout the state.
"We hope we can do them proud to have this memorial built," he said.
If you are interested in making a contribution to the fund, visit www.mleom.org/donate.html .
