For the last three years, the Chief Mason Griffith Foundation has been helping families of fallen first responders, families battling medical complications and retired first responders.

Now, the foundation is looking to help out families of first responders in Montgomery County.

The Griffith Foundation has started a chapter in the county in honor of New Florence Police Chief Tyler Beasley, who died at his Columbia home in April. Angie Koepke, the foundation’s daily operations director, made the announcement during a candlelight vigil at the Beasley Family Fundraiser on July 11 at New Florence City Park.

There are now four chapters in the foundation. The first chapter is the main chapter, which started in 2023 and is named after Hermann Police Sergeant Mason Griffith, who was killed in the line of duty in a shooting at the Casey’s gas station on Highway 19. The second one is the Lake chapter, which was created in 2024 in honor of Osage Beach police officer Phylicia Carson, who died while attempting to assist in a traffic stop. The third one is the West chapter, which was created in 2025 in honor of Christopher Clevinger, a firefighter in Saline and Pettis counties who died of a heart attack after responding to an emergency call.

Koepke said Montgomery County deputy Jason Maskey was helpful in starting a Griffin Foundation chapter in the county.

“He actually worked pretty closely on the Mason Griffth case on (March 12, 2023),” Koepke said. “He was there. He was kind of tied into that. With that being said, he had a heart for this. When I asked him if he would consider helping me get a chapter going, he said yes. Then after Tyler passed away on April 30, we were able to raise the funds for the final expenses and things like that. I said, ‘We want to be in your community.’ We kind of knew that this was going to be happening.”

During the Beasley Fundraiser, several people signed up to join the Montgomery County chapter. Koepke said one of the foundation’s goals is to attend events around the county every year.

“As the list is growing, we will have people out representing the Chief Mason Griffith Foundation,” Koepke said. “We couldn’t have done it without the support of the community.”

The Griffith Foundation has several programs, including Reboot, which is a 12-week course that helps first responders and their families heal from critical incident stress and trauma, and Partner In Hope, which gives anyone an opportunity to send money each month to help the foundation.

The foundation organized the Beasley Fundraiser, raising money through live and silent auctions, T-shirts and food to help support Beasley’s wife and three children. Its mission is to raise $200,000 to pay for the home so the family doesn’t have to relocate.

Griffith worked at the Hermann Police Department for 12 years before he was killed three years ago.

“It was in the line of duty, it was senseless and it didn’t have to be,” Koepke said. “We could have chosen to sit there and be mad and sit with sorrow and hate. Mason was always out in the public doing something, so that’s what we decided to do. We’re going to carry his name on by helping others.”

To join the TCMGF Montgomery County chapter, email masongriffithfoundation@tcmgf.org or call 314-608-8310.