TRENTON, MAINE, Maine — A fundraiser event to support the family of Deputy Luke Gross took place on Sunday at Big Cat's Catering in Trenton. About a hundred people were in attendance.
The owner of the catering business, neighbors, community members, and other organizers made the event happen in just ten days. There were silent auction raffles, and all the proceeds from the food sales were also added to the donation.
Alex Grant, the owner of Big Cat's Catering, said, "My father was a state trooper and passed away at the same age as Luke, so it really resonated there. But anyone that knew Luke and grew up in an officer-related family... it's a community, and we want to really just do something, even if it's a small part, but it got big!"
"It's all about remembering Luke and the person he was, and really giving his family a little boost in a very tough time," said Grant.
Darling's brought its ice cream truck to the event and also made a donation of $5,000 to the family.
"We will do anything we can to help, we have a bunch of volunteers here today, Darling's gave some money and we have the ice-cream truck here for donations, and in the future, we will do all that we can to help out in honor of Luke and the sheriff's department," said Darling's salesperson PJ Davis.
If you were not able to attend the fundraising event and would like to help the Gross family with a donation, you can bring a check to the Hancock County Sherriff's Department in Ellsworth, and name it for the Gross family.