ADAMS COUNTY, Pa. — Kim Weigand knows the pain of losing a loved one in the line of duty.
Her son Michael was killed in 2008 while escorting a benefit ride -- a tragic incident that Kim says changed the fabric of her life.
"He was a joker," she says of her son. "He could always make him laugh no matter what...he was the life of the party. He was a major link in our family chain."
As Kim and her family struggled with the loss, an encounter with the Concerns of Police Survivors organization, or C.O.P.S, in Washington, DC set her on a new course.
"When Mike was killed, we didn't have a chapter...and we were like both in canoes in a raging river with no oars, and we couldn't get to each other for the support," Weigland said, describing the weight she and her husband, Michael, felt.
"Our national organization puts on 'trauma in law enforcement' training...and we had signed up before Mike was killed and I didn't want to go, but we had registered and this mom was the main speaker," Weigland noted, standing next to Mike's "End of Watch" plaque at the Adams County 911 Center.
"And she was telling her story, and I was crying, and I'm totally embarrassed. We went outside and she came up to me and said, 'can you tell me how you really are? Because I know you're not okay, I know all about him.'
"She knew my story and I told her I was in a deep hole that I couldn't get out of...and she says, 'You take my hand. I'll pull you out.'
"And that woman literally saved my life," Weigland said.
Weigland wasted no time, forming the Pennsylvania state chapter of C.O.P.S, and began to form bonds all over the state with families & loved ones who are in need of support.
"I become very close to our survivors," she said. "They literally become family...they call me at all hours of the night when they need to talk. I've been told that, you know, I've been a help to them, which is what I want to do. That's my purpose - is to be there for them."
The organization, reliant on donations, now puts on a yearly retreat at Seven Springs, something Weigland says has been vitally important to the families as a way to bond and heal together.
"We're all self-supported, each chapter has to raise their own funds," she said. "I plan and coordinate all of our fundraising...I would say 98% of that money goes to National Police Week when the officers are honored. We pay for [the families] hotel bills."
A major endeavor, Weigland is multiplying good across the state as she honors the lives of officers lost and the families that continue to cherish them.