VANCOUVER, Wash. — The Clark County Sheriff's Office will hold a memorial service for Detective Jeremy Brown, who was killed in the line of duty on July 23.
The service is open to the public and starts at 1 p.m. Tuesday, August 3. It will be held at Ilani Casino in Ridgefield, Washington.
As the department grieves, volunteers with Washington-based The Soup Ladies try to help lighten their load and spirits.
On Friday, there were a lot of cooks in the kitchen serving up a warm meal and support.
"I love to do this. I think the greatest call you can have on your life is to love others," The Soup Ladies Founder Ginger "Mama" Passarelli said. "It’s a ministry and this is what we do. We just go and we feed, we serve with love. And if you see the people we see you know that you’re doing God's work."
First responders around the country call Passarelli and her team of Soup Ladies on the darkest days.
"Unfortunately this is the third line of duty death I've done," volunteer Peter Grosvenor added.
"I love our officers. They put up with stuff that is unimaginable," Passarelli said. "They would take a bullet for us to protect us. They'd run into a burning building to protect us. That is a hero."
The Clark County Sheriff's Office asked The Soup Ladies to come to Vancouver as the agency mourns the loss of 15-year-veteran Sgt. Jeremy Brown. He was shot and killed as he sat in his car while on surveillance at a Vancouver apartment complex last Friday.
"Those people we're serving had a close personal relationship with this local hero," Kate Grosvenor said, "I think about those he left behind and what I can do, which is working with The Soup Ladies to bring them some comfort."
"It really hits home for me when an officer comes to get some food and we say, 'Thank you guys for what you do' and you can see in their face that they don't always hear that. So that's why we're here," Peter Grosvenor added.
Passarelli has about 80 volunteers total and a handful are deployed for each call. They respond to incidents all over the country, both big and small.
Every volunteer is vetted and goes through a background check. They must also take incident command classes through FEMA and other trainings to understand emergency response and command structures.
When they are at an incident or scene they report directly to the logistics chief. Sometimes they feed hundreds of people for a week at a time. They work out of full kitchens, like the one they're using in Clark County, or out of Passarelli's mobile kitchen in the field.
"It's an honor, actually. That's the best way I can describe it: it's an honor to serve these people," Kate Grosvenor added. "You like to think you made a little bit of a difference."
Friday was their last day in Clark County. But Sgt. Brown and the first responders they met there will stay with them forever.
"These are shrouds from memorials we've been to," Passarelli said, showing a few mourning bands she's received when responding to incidents. "And here's the one from here for Jeremy."
The Soup Ladies run entirely on donations. If you want to donate or volunteer with them, visit soupladies.org.