On Saturday, February 16th, we celebrated the successes of 2012 via our 1st Annual SDIA Charity Ball. By all accounts the Ball was a great success! We had targeted an attendance of 150 for our first Ball, but were thrilled to have 200 plus attend. This years Ball included a cake cutting ceremony, bag pipers, silent auction, guest speaker Joseph Collins, dinner, awards ceremony, special music and dancing. Everything went so well in our first year we are already looking forward to our 2nd Annual Ball. We can’t wait to see you there!
Part of the nights festivities included an Awards Ceremony recognizing key Sponsors and special persons that contributed greatly to the success of SDIA in 2012. Below are our award winners, they deserve every bit of the recognition they received.
Sheep Dog of the Year: John Pope
John is a former Marine & Soldier, with multiple tours in Iraq. He is also the owner of Cerberus Security Group, a dog training facility that provides working dogs to law enforcement and military, and is working on SDIA’s SAR Dog program. John is also the Founder of SDIA M.A.T. Kids. The M.A.T. Kids mission is to provide today’s young people with positive examples through mentorship with individuals within the local community (i.e. law enforcement, military, and fire rescue). The students learn self-defenses by teaching them Gracie Jiu-jitsu in a series of games. During these classes we focus on bullying, stranger awareness, health, drugs, and fitness. But the most important aspect of M.A.T. kids is the mentorship benefit. M.A.T. Kids wants their students to walk away with a new sense of self-worth and a purpose. John is everything Sheep Dog IA stands for and he is certainly deserving of this years Sheep Dog of the Year award.
Volunteer of the Year: Shonnon Modisette
Shannon is one of Sheep Dog IA’s earlier volunteers and has dedicated more of her free time to SDIA than any other volunteer, and more than most of our full members. She can be found working in the SDIA office long after everyone else has gone home for the night, and far too often on the weekends. Shannon has be instrumental in managing multiple SDIA fundraising events and has ensured their success. Without her dedication and commitment to SDIA in 2012, we can honestly say that Sheep Dog IA would be two steps further back than we are today. Thank you Shannon, we LOVE YOU!
Sponsor of the Year: PROPPER 
PROPPER has been making high-quality uniforms and apparel for military, law enforcement and public safety professionals since 1967. Their clothing is on the backs of our nation’s protectors, so they don’t take our job lightly. Apparel that is designed specifically for their needs and loaded with functional details that can stand up to the wear and tear that the job demands. PROPPER garments are built to last and built to work. When you purchase PROPPER products, you can expect authentic apparel and battle-proven durability. SDIA could not be more proud of the relationship we have with PROPPER. They believed in us and our mission long before many others did. We are a better, and stronger organization because of PROPPER and their support.
Community Sponsor of the Year: CrossFit NWA
CrossFit NWA is one of the premier CrossFit Boxes in northwest Arkansas, providing a top-notch fitness program and facility for its members and the community at large. CF NWA has been a huge supporter of SDIA’s efforts and continues to be one of our primary contributors. The members of CF NWA have gone out of their way to participate at all of our major fundraising events, and were a key factor in ensuring our ability to support the needs of Sheep Dogs and their families during the 2012 Holiday Season. We look forward to having CF NWA in our corner for many years to come!
Strategic Partner of the Year: Aurora Tactical
Aurora Tactical is at the forefront of providing the finest night vision, weapons, optics and tactical equipment to our customers, actual operators. We do this without sacrificing an essential commitment to our customer service. Since our company’s inception, our objective has been to construct and procure the best gear and offer it at the lowest possible price. Rather than individual items, we try and provide complete tactical systems to our users. Their customers include federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, Homeland Security, the US Armed Forces and individual professionals and enthusiasts. Aurora Tactical was a major contributor to SDIA and our fundraising efforts in 2012. A big Thank You to Aurora Tactical for their tremendous support.
We would also like to recognize a few of our key sponsors for this years Charity Ball:
Founding Sponsor –
Citiscapes
Media Sponsors –
Celebrate
Kids Directory
Peakaboo
Supporting Sponsors –
Propper
Embassy Suites
KNWA
A BIG Thank You to our many silent auction item sponsors. We had one of the best selections of silent auction items ever. Thank you for trusting us enough to display your items at our Ball. These silent auction items enabled us to meet and exceed our fundraising goals for this years Ball.
And last, but certainly not least, we would like to say a special Thank You to the ladies that made all of this possible…without them, our 1st Ball would not have been anywhere near the success that it was.
Regina Pope
Andrea Welch
Shannon Modisette
Elisha Modisette
Kerry Kelley
Susan Lackie
Tina Langley
Alisa Echols
Becky Rangal
Janet Baldrige
Thank you ladies for a job well done! And to everyone that attended this years Ball, Thank You, you are the reason we had such a great night out. We can’t wait for next years ball!
For more pictures of the Ball please visit: https://sobeso.com/sheepdogianew_org/gallery-2/