The founder of Rockin’ 4 Relief realized early in life how difficult things can be for the families of men and women who have fallen in the line of duty.

Jennifer Rubin, a 22-year-old Southeast alumna in communication studies and a Cape Girardeau police office, was 12 years old when she started the effort, which involves volunteers rocking in rocking chairs for 10 hours straight while collecting money from donors.

Rockin’ 4 Relief holds a series of events benefiting the family members of police officers, firefighters, EMTs and paramedics who have died doing their job, she said.

This year’s Rockin’ 4 Relief will be held in Cape Girardeau on Oct. 20. Rubin said the local event raised $14,000 last year, and has raised $164,000 in eastern Missouri since its inception in 2008. Rubin said she hopes the organization will hit $200,000 for the 10th anniversary.

The money benefits BackStoppers, which assists families of police officers, firefighters, EMTs and paramedics who died in the line of duty.

Rubin said the effort began in her hometown of St. Louis but expanded after she moved to Cape Girardeau. Rockin’ 4 Relief now has about 700 volunteers who take to their rocking chairs and sit out front of gas stations, grocery stores, restaurants and retailers throughout eastern Missouri, spanning from St. Charles to Sikeston.

Rubin said she became familiar with police officers when she was younger through community service, and it was then she realized the danger law enforcement faces.

“I kind of just started asking questions, and you know a light bulb sort of went off, and I realized these officers carry a gun on their hip for a reason, they wear a bulletproof vest for a reason,” she said.

While Rubin said the initiative was not started in response to personal loss, she since has been impacted by loss.

In 2013, she and the people around her faced the death of two officers following heart attacks in the line of duty, she said, and in April, retired fire chief Jim Silvernail of the Wildwood, Missouri, area, who had been involved in Rockin’ 4 Relief from the beginning, died.

“When I was younger I never thought that I’d be affected by it. I wanted to help just in case,” Rubin said. “Now it’s to the point, where unfortunately, you know it’s going to happen, and you know we just have to be prepared for it. I feel better in the fact that we’re at least able to help these families after going through such a hard time.”

For the first event in 2008, the idea of using rocking chairs was adopted, with donations coming in based on the hours the person had been rocking. The fundraiser was held in a gym and did not meet the organization’s goal, but they managed to improve their strategies for the next year, moving it to the front of a grocery store.

She said Rockin’ 4 Relief has grown from operating out of that gym where her mother had worked to now being an official non-profit.

This year Rockin’ 4 Relief’s Cape Girardeau event will be on Oct. 20th, and the St. Louis event will be Nov. 3.

The idea of using rocking chairs was one of several ideas that had been tossed around, she said, and had prompted some to donate to the cause based on the hours the person had been rocking.

“Growing up and still to this day, I look at these police officers as my family because at the time they were my number one mentors and now literally they are the people I work beside,” Rubin said.

There will be an informational Rockin’ 4 Relief meeting Sept. 27 at the Cape Girardeau Police Department, where Rubin will talk to volunteers and interested listeners about the effort.

The finale of the events will be held at 9 p.m. at Wings, Etc. where response teams will have vehicles outside the building. Fire trucks and police cars will sound their sirens and set off their lights following a countdown.

Anyone interested in the events or the group can learn more at Rockin4Relief.com or at https://www.facebook.com/Rockin4ReliefSTL.