The Fallen Officers Memorial Trust of the Fall River Police (commonly known as the Fallen Officers Memorial Trust), was established in July of 2013 as a result of the merger of the former Thomas J. Giunta Memorial Trust and the Richard G. Magan Memorial Trust.  Each of these previous trusts, and the successor Fallen Officers Memorial Trust, was established in tribute to the life sacrifices these officers made in the performance of their duties.  Recognizing that other Fall River officers have similarly sacrificed – John W. Ruggiero, Gideon Manchester, and Louis T. Gormley -- the Fallen Officers Memorial Trust now recognizes all five officers.  The trust accounts are currently managed by BankFive.  Legal counsel is provided by Attorney John Saulino; accounting services are provided by Mr. Thomas A. D’Ambrosio, CPA.

 

Deputy Chief of Police (ret.) Cathleen L. Moniz acts as the Administrator/Trustee and initially worked with both police personnel and legal and financial representatives to create a charitable trust as well as a formal Trust Committee.  Thus, our group was created as a charitable organization under sections170(c), 501(c)(3), 2055(a), and 2522 (a) of the Internal Revenue Code, which restricts the purposes for which the Trust monies can be used to those that are charitable in nature.  The initial trust agreements were created in 1995 and 2001, and were updated in 2013.

 

To date, the Trust commits the majority of its funds to fourteen separate scholarships, all of which are perpetual in nature. Recipients are chosen by the independent selection panel.  Separately, via our partnership with BCC, another one-to-four scholarships are awarded annually. Other funds are subject to charitable disbursement as the Committee determines.  Under legal guidelines, no profits are taken and no members receive compensation for service.  All monies generated become part of the Trust Fund.

 

Donations may be made at any time to the Fallen Officers Memorial Trust via C. L. Moniz, 11 Mohawk Drive, South Dartmouth, MA 02748.  Our annual fundraising season and the annual Giunta 5K Road Race continue to provide the Trust Fund with the bulk of its support.

 

The Trust Committee, under its by-laws, consists of up to seventeen members, all of whom serve voluntarily and indefinitely.  All are active or retired officers of the Fall River Police Department.  At this writing, they are:

 

Cathleen L. Moniz, Administrator/Trustee; Norbert Pacheco, Co-Administrator; Michael K. Hoar, Timothy Giunta, Eric Copsetta, Greg Wiley, Faith Amaral, Bill Platt, and Erick Bettencourt.

 

The active Chief of Police serves as an advisor to the Committee.

 

The Scholarship Selection Panel consists of Mr. Michael Moran, Sr. Kathleen Harrington, and Lt. Paul Mattos, FRPD (ret.).

 

The Committee meets a minimum of twice annually, in spring and fall of each year. 

 

For more information about the Fallen Officers Memorial Trust, the scholarships, the independent selection panel, or the annual fundraisers, please contact Cathleen L. Moniz at 508 525-7983.