(Lamar, CO) -- Sheriff Sam Zordel was smiling as he told us the body armor donation his office was receiving is worth about $25,000. "It's going to be a good thing for the office!" We used to have some similar armor and it costs us a lot of money back then, and it's come so far from what we had back then. It's lighter and easier to move around in."

The donations were made possible from LV Petroleum and TA Express in Lamar through the non-profit Shield 616. LV Petroleum Vice President Quyntyn Johnson said it was one of his employees at the truck stop that got the ball rolling to make it happen. Johnson said his company just wanted to do something to help the community. Outfitting the folks who protect us with better body armor seemed like a great fit.

Deputies receiving the protection armor attended a ceremony Tuesday where Shield 616 founder and president Jake Skifstad spoke and explained why he started the non-profit. Skifstad told a standing room only crowd that he was one of the officers involved in the Planned Parenthood shooting in Colorado Springs. In was in this moment he realized that law enforcement needed vests that would protect them from rifle rounds. After some research he was able to match donors with some agencies who could benefit from better body armor and the dream started to grow.

Skifstad invited the community to also adopt a deputy by taking a magnet with the deputy's name on it to place on the fridge. It's a reminder to keep them in prayer, Skifstad finished.

To wrap up the ceremony it was asked that everyone in attendance take a photo with the deputies. The only way to do that was to do a panoramic photo.

Here are a few photos of the day. Please share this article with anyone who might like to see it.

~Anne Boswell, anneb@secpa.com

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Vice President of LV Petroleum, Quyntyn Johnson and Shield 616 Founder Jake Skifstad