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Project Tribute Foundation, a non-profit in Bartlesville with a mission to provide lifesaving gear to first responders, creates a podcast.

Executive Director Jon Beckloff says the goal of the podcast is to highlight first responders in Washington County, in the State of Oklahoma, and across the nation, and inform the public about the Foundation and what first responders do for us. Beckloff says they are on every podcast site, such as Audible, Google, Spotify and Apple Podcasts. He says all you have to do is search "Project Tribute Foundation," and the podcast should pop up.

Episodes will be posted every Friday around 8:00 p.m. Beckloff says they will post video from their interviews on the Project Tribute Foundation Facebook page and on their YouTube channel.

Jared Gorman was in the spotlight for the first podcast. Beckloff says he learned from his conversation with Gorman that paramedics live at the station much like firefighters do at fire stations.

Beckloff says it is vitally important to highlight the good that law enforcement and first responders are doing. He says he tried to post the hashtag "Back the Blue" on Project Tribute Foundation's Instagram page, but it was blocked. He says social media platforms are even blocking the good things our police officers are doing through an algorithm.

According to Beckloff, police officers are taking more medical calls or mental health calls than anything else. Looking at the Bartlesville Police Department and other departments across the country, Beckloff says they are local people that go out to train and return to their hometown. Beckloff says they aren't strangers in police cars that want to do harm to others. He says police officers are people that chose a tough life to get paid $30,000 per year to serve their community against all the odds.

Author and first responder John Castle is slated to make an appearance on the podcast in the future. Beckloff says Castle wrote the book, "John Fifteen Thirteen." He says Castle has experience serving as a police officer and trained police forces in Kosovo as part of a United Nations initiative.

Project Tribute Foundation's next podcast will highlight a local firefighter that has come from four generations of first responders. Beckloff says they will discuss "Post-Traumatic Stress Injury vs Disorder." He says they want to give first responders an avenue to share their story or to educate the general public.

To learn more about Project Tribute Foundation, click here.

Links to Project Tribute Foundation's podcast platforms can be found below:

Apple Podcast

PlayerFM

iHeart

Google Podcasts