A Message from Defend Our Children Inc., Nonprofit’s
Todd Drummond, Chief Executive Officer
(2 minute read)
I want to thank everyone who donated and volunteered to get us where we are today. We want to assure you we continue our aggressive move forward in our fight to save our children’s lives with Safe Space Security Desks in every school.
It has been a very difficult journey for a Nonprofit fighting through COVID 19, supply chain collapses, crippling inflation, political upheaval and disturbing world events. But through it all, we continued to push forward doing as much as we could with as much or little funding as we received.
What the team has achieved to Date;
We teamed with an engineering firm in Illinois to finalize our desk designs proving form, fit and function, produce CAD files for manufacturer solicitations and build two proof of concept desks.
We turned to a volume manufacturing candidate to build another set for proficiency demonstration and federal testing requirements.
First, we sent one desk for federal product safety and performance standards testing at ANSI/BIFMA. We are extremely pleased to report that the desk passed requirement without exception (Level X5.5 standard)
Then we shipped this same desk to the National Testing Systems for ballistic projectile testing.
This critical test entailed firing several 5 shot groupings into the exterior structure of the desk to demonstrate projectile impact compliance to a NIJ Level IIIA 0108.01 which includes 9 mm, .44 magnum and 9 mm Sub machine guns. (https://nij.ojp.gov/library/publications/ballistic-resistant-protective-materials-nij-standard-010801)
Not only did the desk pass these minimum requirements, we went far beyond minimum requirements and had the same test repeated on all 3 additional sides and the top of the desk. This would tell us how durable the desk structure was but also a multi directional impact factor we felt was important. This desk withstood this incredible 40 ROUND BALLISTIC SALVO. Why would we go beyond the single test mandate? Because it is our children the Safe Space Security Desks will be protecting. To see the testing criteria and ballistic material testing visit: defendourchildren.org/safe-space-security-desk.
After 4 long years, we have obtained indisputable proof that demonstrates the desks' ability to defend our children in their time of need: weapon attack, knife slash, blunt impact and flying debris incidents.
The Next Step?
We need to get these security desks in schools which is proving to be a formidable, frustrating and rather confusing challenge. Our school leaders and school security assessment experts must start recognizing that one of the most devastating security failures in our schools is the period from the moment a threat enters a room until first responders can arrive. This period of time is known as the “Extreme Danger Gap” EDG. This EDG is AND seems to be , and always has been, the unspoken “missing link” in our classroom security cycle. It is this EDG that our children are left defenseless at the mercy of an assailant, alone, scared and targeted. This security failure must be corrected.
The Safe Space Security Desk provides a Safe Space within the desk for the children to hide with a ballistic barrier between them and the threat.
Prevention and deterrent security such as school resource officers, cameras, locks, metal detectors, fences and controlled ingress will always have their place in school security, but we must be mindful that history has proven that criminals can and will always find ways to defeat these type systems.
The Department of Homeland Security and FBI’s active shooter defense protocol is for our children to Run, Hide or Fight the assailant to defend themselves. These options must clearly be enhanced. Our Safe Space Security Desks provide a place to hide if running is not an option with multi impact ballistic barrier protection surrounding them to avoid the necessity to engage an assailant with a weapon.
Defend Our Children‘s Critical Need;
We need funding to equip at least one classroom with the Safe Space Security Desks in order to conduct active shooter response drills for school leaders and first responders. This would demonstrate how simple and effective these daily use desks become when an assailant is in the classroom. This life saving evidence would be very hard to repudiate the importance and urgency of each child having one in every classroom.
Our Nonprofit operates 100% through donations. Our team is an assembly of volunteers and non-paid leaders which allows over 95% of donations to go directly to the desks.
What can you do to help now?
We need our Nation to come together to help us get the word out. Tell your friends, parents, teachers, first responders and community leaders that the desks exist and they work so why are they not in our school?
During this holiday season, when you purchase gifts through Amazon Smile, please think of us when you check out. Ask your friends, family and community to go to smile.amazon.com and choose “Defend Our Children Inc., Nonprofit” as your charity of choice and Amazon Smile will donate .05% of your eligible purchases to our mission. To learn more visit our blog. To participate visit: smile.amazon.com/ch/83-4644192.
If you are in a position to donate yourself, or want to help raise funding, we have direct links on our defendourchildren.org to help. You can double your donations by donating to our charity through PayPal. Once you purchase an item using PayPal, you simply click on our charity and they will match your donation, $1 for $1 up to $2,500.00 which is pretty hard to beat.
Thank you for your continued support in this “Gift of Life”.
Happy Holidays and remember the reason for the season.
Thank you,
Todd Drummond
Chief Executive Officer
Defend Our Children Inc., Nonprofit
