The Leflore County Dive, Rescue and Recovery Team will hold a fish fry fundraiser June 28 to help with its equipment costs.
The event begins at 4 p.m at Greenwood Market Place. Tickets for the plates are $10 each and may be purchased in advance from individual team members or at Market Place the day of the event.
The dive team includes 14 volunteers, spanning different emergency agencies, who try to save lives on and under the water.
“We’re on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” said Detective Sgt. Toby Meredith of the Greenwood Police Department, the team’s assistant dive leader.
The countywide team has been in existence since 2008, when fire and law enforcement agencies in Leflore County developed an interlocal agreement to allow its members to participate as volunteer team members, said Leflore County Undersheriff Ken Spencer, the team’s dive leader.
“We could have Greenwood police officers, sheriff’s deputies, volunteer firefighters, Greenwood firefighters,” he said.
Lt. Byron O’Bryant, a team member and training officer with the Greenwood Police Department, said the fundraiser will help the group replace lost gear.
The team also would like to acquire a system to enable divers to communicate with those on the surface. Such a system would cost around $3,000, O’Bryant said.
In addition, funds can be used to cover the cost of specialized training, he said.
Spencer said he hopes others will help with the fundraiser.
“We’re going to see if we can get the chief and the sheriff and everybody else to cook,” he said.
In addition to agreeing to host the event, Market Place has donated food items for the fundraiser, Spencer said.
For more information on the fundraiser or to make a donation, call O’Bryant at 299-4991.
• Contact Bob Darden at 581-7239 or bdarden @gwcommonwealth.com.
