Curtis DeBerg
Founder, President & CEO
Curtis DeBerg didn't set out to start a nonprofit. He set out to serve.
And he did, for over 34 years.
His career began as an EMT, drive by a simple instinct to help people in their worst moments. That instinct led him to pursue a Criminal Justice degree and join law enforcement in Central Iowa. He gave everything to the job. And eventually, the job took something back.
A series of injuries - requiring surgeries, months of physical therapy, and ultimately a disability retirement - ended his time as a law enforcement officer earlier than he had planned. Most people would have walked away. Curtis kept going. He continued his career as a Department of Corrections Officer, a Prisoner Transport Officer, and today works as an Executive Personal Protection Agent.
But something stayed with him. In the years after his injury retirement, Curtis kept thinking about the families of officers who hadn't been as fortunate...the widows, the children, the households left behind when an officer was killed in the line of duty.
He knew from the inside what that world looked like. He knew how long benefits taken. He knew what financial pressure on top of grief feels like. And he knew that nobody was filling that immediate gap fast enough.
So he built Give Blue Hope, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to delivering an immediate charitable gift to the families of officers feloniously killed in the line of duty. Not someday. Not after the paperwork clears. Now, when it matters most.
Thank you to our sponsors
The People Behind the Mission
Give Blue Hope is governed by a volunteer board of directors
committed to ensuring every dollar goes where it's needed most.
Curtis DeBerg
Founder and CEO
Jonathan Dash
Board Treasurer
Yoli Origel
Board Chair
Dr. Brad Rogers
Board Member
Tiffany Yant
Board Secretary
Why Give Blue Hope Exists
Give Blue Hope is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit charitable organization. Our mission is to bridge the financial gap for the immediate family of a law enforcement officer, corrections officers, corrections officer, or firefighter who has been feloniously killed in the line of duty, so they can grieve instead of worrying about how they are going to survive.
Our gift is not intended to replace the pension or benefits a family is entitled to. It's intended to hold them over until those benefits arrive, because no family should have to choose between grief and groceries.
