The Heroes Club
The Heroes Club is a locally run nonprofit organization that provides monetary assistance to first responders in Carmel and Clay Township, offering additional life insurance programs for those who fall in the line of duty, as well as equipment, training and mental health resources.
The club began in Carmel but has recently expanded into Zionsville and hopes to reach even more communities in the future.
Business owner Matt Frey has served on the board for several years, and as the current president of the club, he’s passionate about giving back to his community and those who protect it.
“As a business owner, as a resident, it’s now my obligation, it’s my civic duty to help those that help us. Who do you call if your house is broken into? Who do you call if your house is on fire? These guys are risking their lives every single day and people take it for granted. This is a way to show support and give them reassurance that we’ve got their back,” he says.
The Heroes Club provides an accidental death policy that pays out $400,000 to the beneficiary, which Frey says is the largest in the nation. The club also has policies for hearing loss, dismemberment and cancer diagnoses.
“It’s a comfort to them that their family will be taken care of in the event that they go down in the line of duty. This is all on top of what they would get from the Fraternal Order of Police, unions or the state or town. They don’t have to choose, it’s automatic, zero cost to them,” he says.
The policy not only applies to police officers and law enforcement, but to members of the fire department and all emergency services — even those not from Carmel, if they’re operating within the city limits.
“If they’re employed by the city or town, they’re covered. The other great thing is that some of them, especially the fire department, will assist in other communities. The Carmel Fire Department will help Zionsville, Westfield, Noblesville or Indianapolis, and they’re covered if they go outside of our region. And the surrounding communities are covered if they come into our region. Some of the surrounding first responders don’t even know about how our policy covers them,” Frey says.
“If there’s a giant fire, and say, Zionsville doesn’t necessarily have the equipment, or as tall of a ladder truck as Carmel does, they will assist. If there’s an awards banquet, the town of Zionsville will help cover Carmel while they have their awards banquet. The chiefs communicate with each other,” he adds.
The program also offers mental health resources and a variety of therapy options.
“It’s important that we provide a resource if they have questions. They don’t always want to use what they have available to them from their city or town, because word could get out, so we can assist them with some mental health treatments on top of what they already get,” Frey says.
Frey says that all of the money comes from donors and fundraising, and almost everything goes directly to helping first responders, as club members are volunteers rather than employees.
“We have no executive director, so we have no overhead and the goal is to expand our reach and also be a link for what they need,” he says. “For example, the chiefs did their budgets a few months ago, and it has to be approved by city and town councils, and that can be affected by taxes. Even when politicians say they don’t want first responders to be affected, they may still have to make cuts in staffing or whatever else, and so we want to raise money for whatever they need.”
Some of the equipment the Heroes Club has purchased includes drones and supplies for the K-9 units of the Carmel Police Department.
“The drone program is huge, it’s to protect the first responders and help the citizens stay safe. Say someone calls 911, someone has an accident on the highway, they can send a drone before the first responders even get there, and they can analyze the situation ahead of time instead of waiting until they get on the scene. They know ahead of time before they get there and gather information,” Frey explains.
“We’ve helped the Carmel K-9 team by buying two different kennels for $15,000 each, and also purchased bullet- and knife-proof vests for K-9s, which are about $4,000 each,” he says. “We do fundraising throughout the year, like our golf tournament, and they’re invited to that. We’ll do a social fundraising event around May, and we’re doing an event at the Hickory Hall Polo Club. We want to be more in the front of people’s minds in the community. People think Carmel is the best of the best of the best, and they have great resources compared to other municipalities, but they still need the advanced tools and everything else to keep them safe.”
He adds that events like these not only help retain staff, but also help recruit.
“Not every community has a Heroes Club that assists in the way that we do,” he says. “Last year we assisted in donating the most money the club has ever had, and that’s about $65,000. That’s thanks to our donors, and we were only able to do that because of people’s kindness.”
For more information and to learn about fundraising events, visit theheroesclub.org or email the Heroes Club at info@theheroesclub.org.
