Meet Curtis Deberg

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Curtis Deberg. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Curtis, so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?

After suffering on the job injuries, surgeries and physical therapy, I was placed on a disability retirement. I immediately felt the financial hardship. But I was alive and able to go back to work.

Around November 2010, a fellow officer was shot and killed in the line of duty. I saw the devastation that the family and the department went through.

At that moment, I felt like I needed to do something, but I was not sure what that was. I wasn’t even sure if one person could make a difference. I started researching non-profits, as I had no idea what to do or how to get started.

12 years later, I finally got the push that I needed to finish up my non-profit “Give Blue Hope”.

Give Blue Hope is a 501c3 tax exempt non-profit. Our mission is to raise money through the generosity of the people, companies and corporations so we can provide a one-time charitable gift of money to the family of a Law Enforcement Officer, First Responder, Corrections Officer or Security Officer who has been killed in the line of duty.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

I started my career around 37 years ago as an EMT. After finishing my degree in Criminal Justice and graduating from the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy, I went to work at my first Police Department in 1990.

After suffering on the job injuries, surgeries and physical therapy, I received a disability retirement. I felt the financial hardship from the injuries and retirement, but I was alive and able to continue in a different career path in Law Enforcement.

After a fellow Police Officer was shot and killed in the line of duty, I witnessed first-hand the emotional devastation and financial devastation it had on the family. I knew at that time I needed to do something, but what can one person do..?

I knew then, what my mission in life is, starting a non-profit and pay it forward. In July 2022, I founded Give Blue Hope.

Give Blue Hope is a 501c3 tax exempt non-profit. Our goal and mission are to receive donations from the generosity of the people, companies and or corporations, so we can give the family of a Law Enforcement Officer, First Responder, Corrections Officer and Security Officer a charitable gift a money immediately so they can buy groceries, pay for utilities, or rent until they get the benefit package from their respectable Department which can take months or years.

Basically, we are helping to bridge the financial gap from the moment an incident occurs until they receive their benefit package from the department.

Give Blue Hope needs your financial support. We would be honored to have your support. Please go to www.givebluehope.org and make a 1x donation, or, if you can afford a $5 recurring monthly donation, that would be wonderful.

Please follow Give Blue Hope on our social media, IG, LinkedIn, Facebook and YouTube.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

I believe the most impactful part of my journey of this mission is having 37 years of experience in the First Responder/Law Enforcement field.

Second most impactful part of this journey was experiencing firsthand the financial hardship from losing that career and how long it took before I received the monthly payment plan. I lost everything, bankruptcy, not being able to afford food, paying utilities on time etc…

Third most impactful part of the journey for me is having the genuine support from family members and complete strangers that believe in our mission.

The only advise that I can give is never give up on your dreams or goals. It took 13 years before Give Blue Hope finally came to fruition. Every day is another day of new challenges. Now that we have reached our initial goal of $1.000,000 we have just begun.

One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?

Give Blue Hope is looking for other organizations to collaborate with. If you share our same mission or vision with the possibility to fundraise together, we will welcome the opportunity to get together and see if we are a good fit for each other.

If you have a group of people, a company or corporation that believes in our mission and needs a tax write off, we would be honored to have an opportunity to give an in-person PowerPoint presentation.

Give Blue Hope is a nationwide non-profit, based out of Omaha Nebraska.

We will travel anywhere in the United States to share our mission with a PowerPoint presentation.

www.givebluehope.org
[email protected]
402-906-9077

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.givebluehope.org
• Instagram: @givebluehope
• Facebook: Give Blue Hope
• Linkedin: Give Blue Hope
• Twitter: @givebluehope
• Youtube: Give Blue Hope