FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 2, 2019
Contact: Bob Funk, Director of Communications
406-461-6787 | [email protected]

MFPE Benevolence Fund Established During 2nd Annual Conference

(HELENA, MONT.) – On the morning of March 15th, 2019 Montana Highway Patrol Trooper Wade Palmer was shot while responding to reports of gunfire near the Stone Creek Lodge in Missoula County Friday morning. He is currently hospitalized in Salt Lake City with injuries sustained as a result of the incident.

Trooper Palmer, like many Montana Highway Patrol Troopers, is a member of the Montana Federation of Public Employees (MFPE) and has been continuously in the thoughts of his MFPE family. During MFPE’s 2nd Annual Conference (March 29-30, 2019), members passed the hat and raised just over $3,000 for the Palmer family.

MFPE President Eric Feaver and staff will be presenting a check for Trooper Palmer and his family to Attorney General Tim Fox, Colonel Tom Butler, and Trooper Joe Fowler at 1pm on April 3rd, 2019.

Additionally, during the conference, MFPE delegates voted to establish the MFPE Benevolence Fund. The rationale for the creation of the benevolent fund was stated as follows:

“One of the historical pillars underpinning organized labor has been the assistance unions have provided members and their families during a time of crisis. Unions have always taken care of their own. MFPE has members who daily place themselves in harms way, whether patrolling Montana’s highways, walking the “high side” of Montana State Prison, working as k-12 paraprofessionals, dealing with exposure to harmful bacteria and toxins, or traveling the state in service to the public. Any one of our members may on occasion suffer a threat to life, limb, and health during the course of their duties. With a benevolence fund MFPE can provide limited financial assistance to members who may be injured on the job.”

For comment, please contact MFPE President Eric Feaver at [email protected] or call 406-442-4250

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