A little about myself.  My name is Madonna Zoellner and I live in St. Charles County, Missouri.  My husband and I have been married 38 years and have 4 adult children (3 girls, 1 boy) and 8 grandchildren (6 boys, 2 girls).  The oldest is almost 13 and the youngest is 1. My husband and I were high school sweethearts.  We have a beautiful Black Lab who is also my therapy dog. 

I am the niece of a former St. Louis Homicide Detective and the Mother-In-Law of a K-9 Officer and his K-9 Enzo.  I was brought up that the police were the good guys and you gave them the respect they deserved.  My Uncle was well liked and respected.  He helped create the very finger printing system that allows a station in California to match prints with an individual in Florida.  When he was at our house for dinner, the neighborhood kids came running!  He finally retired after working a very difficult murder case of a child.  Unfortunately we lost my Uncle five years ago.

 
Today my son-in-Law is where my attention goes.  He was front and center during the riots in 2013 in Ferguson.  It broke my heart watching the people and the government attack our police.  I sat with my daughter and grandchildren that week not knowing if he was going to come back home.  It was the worst week of my life!  I knew then I needed to do something to bring back that respect these men and women deserved.  So I would hand out Prayer cards and support bracelets to officers but that wasn’t enough.  I knew I couldn’t afford to be as giving as I wanted to be, after all every LEO deserves to have their kindness celebrated and paid forward.  I had been looking for somewhere to go and feel comfortable with and then I met Kristen.  There were some days that I was afraid to get on social media because so many police were coming under attack and I would often have anxiety attacks.
Kristen reached out to me and literally made me feel better.  That’s when she told me about her non-profit organization, "Blue Angel of Hope."

I think I was drawn to this organization because I wanted to be apart of something that could really make a difference in a Heroes life.  So many people start projects like this but are not in it for the right reasons. When I see nothing but pictures of one person only, that tells me they’re in it for the glory and not the good of Our First Res-ponders. Blue Angel of Hope expects nothing in return accept maybe to be an example of how important it is to pay an act of kindness forward.  I know what it feels like when there is an empty chair at the table for the holidays. When a kid has a ballgame but Dad has to work.  There’s times when the house is full of people, yet you are still extremely lonely knowing that chair is once again empty.  The daily feeling when the door closes and you wonder if it will open again after midnight.

Well that's my story and the reason why I joined Blue Angel of Hope. I hope to make a difference in someone’s life the way Blue Angel of Hope has made in mine.  I will always back the blue with every breath I take.  I will step in to help an Officer in trouble and always be ready with a shoulder to cry on.  Please do not hesitate to contact me for assistance.  God Bless each of you.