Unity Matters even more as Modesto church broadens scope of salute

In the spirit of its name, Unity Matters, the event that in its first year honored law enforcement now will salute all public-safety first responders.

“Once again, our only agenda is to let these men and women know that we love and appreciate who they are and what they do for us on a daily basis,” said Toby Bowker, director of Unity Matters for The House Modesto Church on Coffee Road.

The 7 p.m. program Monday will be jam-packed with roughly 80 minutes of thanks to peace officers, firefighters, EMTs, chaplains – anybody who falls under the umbrella of first responders, Bowker said.

“I am in awe of the support the Modesto Police Department and law enforcement have from the community. The turnout at last year’s event was incredible and very humbling,” Modesto police Chief Galen Carroll, who spoke at the first Unity Matters, told The Bee. “I believe it is important for first responders to feel the support and appreciation from our community. It lets them know that we are all in it together to keep our community safe.”

The evening will include remarks by government and other community leaders, first responder department heads and others, with video elements featuring professional athletes, schoolchildren and others offering their thanks. Handwritten cards from schoolchildren also will be presented to the honorees, Bowker said.

As it did last year, the free event will include collection of a freewill offering that will go to the Stanislaus County Peace Officers Association, which last year put the money into its chaplain program, Bowker said.

The first Unity Matters gathering drew more than 100 law enforcement officers and more than 1,000 supporters, Bowker said. For this year’s event, organizers have made phone calls and emails from Bakersfield to Sacramento to San Francisco and places in between to invite first responders, he said.

As of Wednesday, The House was expecting at least 300 honorees just from responses it had received. The venue can hold about 2,000 people, “so we’re ready for the growth,” Bowker said.

“I think the most exciting part for me is that we have a guy coming from, I believe, the San Luis Obispo area who found out about it. He’s involved in a church there and wants to see what we do and take it back to his church. That’s our big-picture goal, to have people all around the country doing this.”

With so many officer shootings since the first event – including the killing of Stanislaus County Deputy Sheriff Dennis Wallace – along with political and other divisions, it’s a tense time across the nation, Bowker said. The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund reported 135 deaths in the line of duty, including 64 by gun, in 2016.

It’s a time to stand against division in our country, Bowker said – a night to put aside political and religious differences.

“In almost every background package I read when hiring new officers, family members and loved ones always mention that they fear for the safety of the applicants,” Carroll said. “The timing of the event could not be better. We have had new officers recently graduated from the Delta Academy, as well as the new graduates from the Stanislaus Academy, who will be in attendance. We have encouraged them to bring their spouses and significant others to witness firsthand that their loved ones will be taken care of by our community.”

This story was originally published March 9, 2017 at 3:42 PM with the headline "Unity Matters even more as Modesto church broadens scope of salute."