NEW HANOVER COUNTY, NC (WECT) – Law enforcement runners from Wilmington and New Hanover County hit the streets Wednesday morning for the annual NC Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics.

Several runners and cyclists left WPD Headquarters around 8:00 a.m. They headed toward Market Street to run all the way to Pender County.

When they reached Pender County, the Wilmington/NHC team passed off the torch to representatives from the Pender Correctional Institution and the New Hanover Department of Corrections.

Law Enforcement Torch Runs are held throughout the United States as an expression of the longstanding partnership between Special Olympics and the law enforcement community.

Copyright 2012 WECT. All rights reserved.

PENDER COUNTY, NC (WECT) – Over $8 million was awarded to over 600 fire departments across the state recently through the 2012 Volunteer Fire Department Fund.

The Fund was created in 1988 to provide dollar-for-dollar matching grants to assist volunteer fire departments, according to a news release from Insurance Commissioner and State Fire Marshall Wayne Goodwin. A total of $8,717,495.18 was awarded to 644 departments and some of that money is going to Pender County. Here’s the list of local grants:

• Atkinson Fire Department, $15,000
• Long Creek Grady Volunteer Fire & Rescue, Inc., $18,083.88
• Maple Hill V.F.D., Inc., $20,606.40
• Penderlea Fire Department, $3,111
• Rocky Point Volunteer Fire Department, Inc., $14,138.88
• Shiloh-Columbia V.F.D., Inc., $30,000
• Surf City V.F.D., Inc., $9,763.27
• Topsail Beach Fire Department, $9,729.09

“I’m proud that so many fire departments are taking advantage of this important grant program. These grants help our volunteer fire departments stretch their budgets to better serve our communities,” stated Goodwin in a news release.

Copyright 2012 WECT. All rights reserved.