Who We Are

The Red & Blue Foundation was established to provide financial grants to Kootenai County first responders and their families who experience unforeseen catastrophic circumstances. Our purpose is to support our first responders and raise social awareness for them in the community through our fundraising efforts.

Our History

The Kootenai County Police and Fire Memorial Foundation, Inc. was founded in 2005 as a result of a serious injury to City of Coeur d’Alene police officer Mike Kralicek while engaging an armed suspect. Due to the officer’s subsequent surgical and rehabilitation requirements, it became evident that the officer and his family had difficulty obtaining additional services from Idaho worker’s compensation board.

Several retired police officers prepared and filed for a non-profit Memorial Foundation.  In 2006, the Foundation received their 501(c)(3) status, making them a privately funded non-profit, tax-exempt public charity.

The Foundation was established to provide financial grants to Kootenai County first responders (including volunteer firefighters) and their families who experience unforeseen catastrophic circumstances including death, illness, and injury.

In the spring of 2010, the Foundation implemented a financial scholarship program for high school dependents of first responders who are college bound. Each year, the Foundation donates $10,000 through this merits scholarship program.

In 2023, the Foundation began a rebranding process, and in 2024 the Foundation rebranded themselves as the Red & Blue Foundation.

Our Members

Board of Directors

Tom Hiltenbrand

President

Jason Mealer

Vice President

Bill Dodd

Treasurer

Glenn Gatherer

Secretary

Kassi Allen

Fundraising and Outreach

Addison Arce

Founding Board Member

Jessica Herbig

Information Technology (IT)

Amanda Wagar

Benefits Specialist

Eric Knudtsen

Board Member

Lauryn Georgius

Education Liaison

Jackie Daly

Bank Representative

Our Members

Advisory Committee

Mike White

Committee Member

Jeff Walther

Law Enforcement Advisor

Jared Reneau

Public Information Officer

Justin Anderson

Committee Member

C.J. Buck

Committee Member

Jeff Piephoff

Committee Member

Eric Sorenson

Committee Member

Daniel Taylor

Committee Member

Chris Wagar

Law Enforcement Advisor

Sam Layson

Committee Member

Jaclyn Scotch

Committee Member

Dani Swanson

Committee Member

Heather Polombo

Committee Member

Agencies We Support

Fire Departments

  • Coeur d’ Alene Fire Department
  • Eastside Fire Protection District
  • Hauser Lake Fire Protection District
  • Kootenai County Fire & Rescue
  • Mica-Kidd Island Fire District
  • Northern Lakes Fire Protection District
  • Spirit Lake Fire Protection District
  • Timberlake Fire Protection District
  • Worley Fire Protection District

Police Departments

  • Coeur d’ Alene Police Department
  • Coeur d’ Alene Tribal Police Department
  • Hayden Lake Police Department
  • Idaho State Police
  • Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office
  • Post Falls Police Department
  • Rathdrum Police Department
  • Spirit Lake Police Department

Your Support Matters

Would you like to donate?

Our efforts are possible because of your generosity. We are profoundly grateful to all of you, and appreciate your support as we protect those who protect us.

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Our Newsletter

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  • P.O. Box 1748, Hayden, ID 83835
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Jason Mealer

Vice President

Captain
Post Falls Police Department

Jason currently serves as our vice president, but first joined Red & Blue Foundation in 2017 as the law enforcement liaison chair.

Jason began his career in Law Enforcement as a dispatcher for the Idaho County Sheriff’s Office in 1999 before transferring to patrol in 2000. He spent multiple years in Iraq and Afghanistan, training and mentoring their police in democratic policing principles, procedures, and tactics as well as an embedded police mentor partnered with the US Army.

Captain Mealer has been a dive team member, SWAT Team Member, SWAT Team Leader, SWAT Team Commander, a Field Training Officer, and Bike Team Member. He currently is the Patrol Captain of the Post Falls Police Department and is married with five children.

Glenn Gatherer

Secretary

Owner
New York Pizza Company
Stogies Cigar and Pipe Lounge

Glenn Gatherer currently holds the position of secretary for Red & Blue Foundation and has been involved with the organization for 2 years.

He is an honorary officer of the City of Post Falls Police Department and is very close with all local police and fire departments. He was also the President of his local Homeowner’s Association for 5 years.

Glenn currently owns two businesses in Post Fall, New York Pizza Company and Stogies Cigar and Pipe Lounge. He has lived in Coeur d’Alene for 53 years. He has been married to his wife Krista for 6 wonderful years and has a wonderful stepdaughter. In his spare time, he loves spending time outdoors, traveling and seeing the world, and geocaching.

Kassie Allen

Fundraising and Outreach

Owner
Anchored Coffee Company & Bakery

Kassie is our fundraising and outreach coordinator, helping plan and execute our various public efforts throughout the year.

She is the daughter of a fallen Idaho State Patrol Trooper, and knows intimately the struggles that officers and families sometimes face. Through that, she actively searches out ways to help the first responders in our area.

She built Anchored Coffee Company from the ground up, deeply steeped in and tied to the community that she loves, and uses her platform in the community to raise funds for various organizations that benefit first responders.

When she isn’t baking, pulling shots of coffee, or championing our men and women in uniform, she enjoys spending time with her husband and daughters in the North Idaho area.

Addison A. Arce

Founding Board Member

Retired LAPD Homicide Detective

Addison is a founding board member for Red & Blue Foundation and has participated in the operations of the organization for 18 years. Bud, as he is affectionately called, is retired from the LAPD Detectives division, where he served 28 years, the last 17 years as a Homicide Detective. He worked the 26th Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia, was General Manager of the Los Angeles Police and Athletic Club, was a Master Instructor sub-contracted to TSA in the subject matter of Explosives Detection, and an investigator who conducted backgrounds for the U.S. Office of Personnel Management for individuals obtaining top security clearance.

In his retirement, Addison has lived in North Idaho for the past 23 years. He volunteers at Hayden Meadows Elementary School as a Heart Reader and special assistant to the Greenhouse Charity Garden, as a volunteer at Coeur d’Alene Police Foundation, and as President of Officers Without Legal Standing (OWLS), a fraternal retired Law Enforcement organization. 

Jessica Herbig

Information Technology (IT)

Owner
JH Group
Food App Fast

Jessica Herbig currently occupies the IT board seat for Red & Blue Foundation, volunteering her time with the Foundation since 2018.

With 20 years of experience in marketing and design, Jessica helps maintain the brand presence of Red & Blue Foundation, as well as the technical support of reaching out to our donor base.

She’s a lifetime local, born and raised in North Idaho, and enjoys everything that entails with her family by her side.

Jeff Walther

Law Enforcement Advisor

Captain
Coeur d'Alene Police Department

Jeff Walther has served as a law enforcement advisor to the committee since 2021. He has worked for the Coeur d’Alene Police Department for 21 years. During his time with the Police Department, he has served in various roles including Defensive Tactics Program Director, Community Action Team Sergeant, US Marshals Service Fugitive Task Force, SWAT Commander, Internal Affairs Lieutenant, and currently as Police Captain in command of the uniformed patrol division since 2021. 

Jeff has lived in Kootenai County since 2002. He enjoys teaching Brazilian Ju Jitsu at a local Ju Jitsu academy and spending time on the lake and hiking with his family.

Justin Anderson

Advisory Committee Member

Sergeant
Post Falls Police Department

Justin Anderson has served as an advisory committee member for two years. Justin has been an Idaho Law Enforcement Officer for nearly 15 years, ten of which has been with the Post Falls Police Department (PFPD). During his time with PFPD, Justin has been assigned to the patrol division and has been a Patrol Sergeant for the past seven years. Justin has been an Idaho resident since birth and has lived in Kootenai County since 2013. Justin enjoys spending time in the outdoors, traveling, and spending quality time with family.

C.J. Buck

Advisory Committee Member

Chairman
Buck Knives, Inc.

CJ has been on the board of Red & Blue Foundation since its inception. He is passionate about taking care of first responders while helping to provide business guardrails for the organization in the responsible use of funds as well as messaging and branding experience. He is also a board member for the Boone and Crockett Club and the American Knife and Tool Institute. He is a past board member of the Mule Deer Foundation and represented North Idaho on the Economic Advisory Council to the Governor. 

CJ loves living in North Idaho where he feels blessed by the open spaces and opportunities to enjoy the outdoors in natural settings. He is an aspiring fly fisherman, occasional hunter, avid hiker, and camper. A Saturday well spent is felling a couple of dead trees and filling his pickup truck with firewood rounds. 

CJ appreciates a “small footprint government” that respects our personal freedoms that then drives our responsibility to take care of each other, not just depend on, or hope for, the government to do it. He believes our responsibility to first responders is easy to support.

Chris Wagar

Law Enforcement Advisor

Lieutenant
Kootenai County Sheriff's Office

Chris has served as a law enforcement advisor to the board since 2022. He has worked for the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office for the last 13 years. During his time with the Sheriff’s Office, he has served in various roles including Court Transport, POST Instructor, Watch Commander, Backgrounds Investigator, Public Information Officer, Recruit Training Officer at the POST Academy and is currently serving as Custody Lieutenant.

Chris was born and raised in the Northwest and has lived in Coeur d’Alene since 2007. He loves spending time with his family in the outdoors either barbequing, golfing or hiking.

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