A charity basketball tournament Saturday in Hampden will involve teams made up of public safety employees, like firefighters, police, rescue crews, and others, and will benefit two great causes. Part of the money will send kids to camp and the other will send Veterans to their own special outdoor retreat.

The 'Battle of the Badges' will take place this Saturday at the Skehan Recreation Center, 1 Main Road North, in Hampden. 12 teams from around the state, representing various public safety agencies will compete. Players will include police officers, firefighters, game wardens, forest rangers, border patrol, and marine patrol, just to name a few. The badges will be set aside and replaced by gym shorts for a fun day of basketball!

Admission to the tournament is free, but there will be concessions for sale and raffle tickets. Some of the items that will be raffled include:

  • Propane BBQ Grill
  • Handmade Quilt
  • His/Hers Designer Sunglasses
  • Pack Basket, Heritage Ice Trap, Ice Scoop, and Fishing Line
  • Cut/Color at InSPArations
  • Massage at InSPArations
  • Patriots Themed Gift Basket
  • Hampden Floral Gift Basket
  • Hampden Dunkin' Donuts Gift Card
  • 10 Gallon Water Cooler
  • 5-piece Metric Wrench Set, and more!

Part of the proceeds from the Battle of the Badges tournament will benefit the Sgt. Joel A. House Summer Camp Fund. This organization, based out of the town of Lee, helps kids reach their dreams through awesome summer camp adventures.

The rest of the proceeds will benefit The House in the Woods, which is a very special retreat for Veterans. The only expense to the vet is the cost of their transportation to the facility in Lee, Maine. Once there, they're taken on fishing and hunting trips that are accessible, despite their various disabilities. Both organizations were inspired by the loss of Sgt. Joel A. House and Sgt. Blair W. Emery during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2007.

Hampden Patrol Officer Jeff Rice told us the fun starts at 7:30 in the morning and will wrap up sometime around 8 p.m. Stop by, watch some basketball, buy a raffle ticket or two, and support two wonderful charities that bring so much happiness to members of our communities! For more information, log onto the Facebook page for the Battle of the Badges Basketball Tournament.

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