Three years ago, Officer Stephen Mitchell was still working through his probationary period as a Key West policeman when his mother died unexpectedly in Maine.

"At the time I was new and didn't have any vacation or sick time, plus my wife and I had just moved here and hadn't established ourselves yet financially," Mitchell said. "We needed to get to Maine and take care of things and attend to my mom's funeral, but we didn't really have the resources."

Support Services commander Lt. Jim Benkoczy told Mitchell to go the Key West International Airport, get on a plane and take care of his family. The Key West Police Department Love Fund paid for the tickets.

"At the time I didn't really know about the fund or how it worked, but I know it alleviated a lot of stress for my wife and I," Mitchell said. "With everything going on, we didn't have to worry about getting there and back. Anyone who lives in Key West knows how expensive it can be to travel in and out of here."

Benkoczy and other officers formed the nonprofit Love Fund four years ago to help Key West police employees when family or personal tragedy strikes. The fund, which is separate from the administrative budget, has donated about $26,500 to help cover medical bills, funeral costs and college tuition for members' children.

The annual Police Officer's Ball, the nonprofit's primary fundraiser, will be Saturday at the Westin Key West Resort Marina ballroom. The department presents its officer and civilian of the year awards at the event.

The party is usually just that, but this year a more solemn tone is set as the department will honor the military in light of the ball falling on the anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, but also because the department's longtime victim's advocate, Elaine Woodson, is battling breast cancer. She may not be able to attend the ball this year because the chemotherapy treatments often leave her too weak, Benkoczy said.

The Love Fund paid some of Woodson's insurance deductible and other costs so she could begin treatment, Benkoczy said. Special donations for her will be accepted at the ball.

"She's an angel, everybody here will tell you that," Benkoczy said. "And this fund was formed to help exactly the employees in Elaine's position."

As the Miami-Dade police fund the Key West version is modeled after, those who accept help must be able to produce medical bills and other proof of how the money was spent, for legal reasons, Benkoczy said.

In a small department the fund's board often has proof in hand already, he said.

"They [Miami-Dade] are so big, I think they have about 5,000 members," Benkoczy said. "We're a little family here, and many of us, like so many people in Key West, are living paycheck to paycheck. Like in Mitchell's case, we just bought him the plane tickets. We knew the cost up front and everyone knew what he was going through."

Accepting such a gift typically is not in Mitchell's nature, he said.

"I'm the kind of person where you have to twist my arm a little bit, but I'm glad they did," Mitchell said. "It was a big help to my wife and I at the time and I think it's a great thing to have. It relieves at least some of the burden when tragedy strikes people. I know it did for me."

alinhardt@keysnews.com