UPDATE: The video has the wrong banners underneath the people speaking. First man is Ray Schwabe, director of outreach for Blue Line Bears. Second speaker is JC Shah, founder of Beyond the Call of Duty.

COLORADO SPRINGS — The End of Watch – Ride to Remember Traveling Memorial will be in Colorado Springs on August, 14

The memorial was created by Beyond the Call of Duty, a nonprofit dedicated to raising awareness of first responders lost in the line of duty and supporting the families and communities of the fallen.

“These beautiful men and women have so much love in them and that their lives are so impactful in what they did every day that let’s not remember them for just a uniform, but let’s remember them for who they were behind the uniform, behind the badge,” said JC Shah, founder of Beyond the Call of Duty. “We know what made them a father, a mother, son, daughter.”

Since Memorial Day weekend, the Ride to Remember Memorial has been traveling the country with the memorial to honor the 608 fallen law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty in 2021.

“They have a calling and it’s a beautiful calling. And it’s not one that, you know, not everybody is willing to to do,” said Eddie Gomez, team member of the 2021 Ride to Remember.

Traveling with them was Blue Line Bears, a group that makes stuffed bears out of a fallen officer’s uniform. Ray Schwabe, director of outreach, said it’s a beautiful thing when they can gift a bear to a family.

“She [the wife] sent us the shirt we made the bear. A couple of months later we got a picture that the bear was sitting in dad’s seat at the son’s college graduation Fast forward two years. We get pictures from the family again [The] flower girl’s carrying the bear down the aisle to dad’s seat at the wedding. And then the picture… it would have been the officer’s first grandchild,” said Schwabe.

The memorial will be open to the public at 1350 Distilling, a sponsor of Beyond the Call of Duty. They are located at 520 E. Pikes Peak Ave. in Colorado Springs. The Memorial will be there from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on August, 14.

According to 1350 Distilling, the stop at 1350 Distilling is a special sponsor event outside of their ride schedule, which started in Washington state, The ride has stops in Kiowa, Aurora, Denver, and Windsor.

1350 Distilling says that last year, El Paso County Sheriff, Deputy Jeff Hopkins was honored for his sacrifice. Next year, El Paso County Sheriff’s Deputy Andrew Peery will be honored.

More information about the End of Watch – Ride to Remember can be found on their website and Facebook page.