January 2025 Guardian Angel Winners

As January rolls in, many of us take the time to reflect on the past year and set new resolutions for the year ahead. It’s a time for growth, change, and focusing on the goals we hope to achieve. We will remain dedicated to our Guardian Angel program, extending the gesture of awarding free vests to individuals who embody the remarkable spirit of our community. Our Guardian Angel program honors individuals who exemplify determination and courage in serving and protecting the communities they call home.

This year, we are proud to continue our commitment to this program, offering a FREE HG2 Concealable Level IIIA Multi-Threat Vest to individuals who embody the remarkable spirit of community service. These vests are a leading choice in safety, offering a unique combination of comfort, ease-of-use, and top-tier ballistic protection. Designed to protect against common handguns, shotguns, as well as strikes and slashes, these vests give our recipients the peace of mind they deserve in their critical roles.

Join us in congratulating the first Guardian Angel winners of 2025, and stay tuned for more stories of strength, dedication, and protection in the year ahead.

I am the director of Security for a semi large shopping mall. We have a high level of gang activity and work closely with our local police to protect our shoppers. We have had officers threatened and assaulted. I run a 6 man agency, and ideally we all need body armor. As a security officer, our mall does not provide us with armor, nor are we paid enough to really afford it. However, with body armor my team and I will be able to keep the community safe more efficiently knowing that we are protected.

I wouldn’t say that I deserve to be selected over any other applicants, but it would be a tremendous help that would benefit both my family and myself. Being able to come home to my family at the end of each and every day means the world to me, winning this body armor would allow me to do this more comfortably.

Dealing with an increasing amount of gang activity makes our jobs more difficult. With the amount of times my team and police officers have been threatened makes not only my team and I uncomfortable, but also my family. It would be an honor to be selected for this donation. Thank you for your time and consideration!

Wearing Safe Life Defense Body Armor enhances my ability to help others by providing me with added protection and confidence in potentially high-risk situations. As a School Marshal, it allows me to respond to emergencies, such as active threats, with a greater sense of security. In my role as a District IT Technician, it ensures my safety if I’m required to assist during drills, security events, or while accessing areas where physical risks might be present. Combining safety with my expertise, I can remain calm and effective in protecting and assisting students and staff.

I should be selected as a recipient for Safe Life Defense Body Armor because my dual roles as a School Marshal and District IT Technician make me a critical asset to the safety and functionality of my school district. My position as a School Marshal places me on the front lines of school security, requiring me to be prepared to respond to emergencies and safeguard students and staff. Wearing high-quality body armor would enhance my ability to perform these duties confidently and effectively, ensuring my protection as I protect others. Additionally, as an IT Technician, I play an indispensable role in maintaining the technological infrastructure that supports the district’s operations. My presence in various areas of the school district—sometimes during drills, emergencies, or security evaluations—means that my safety is crucial to maintaining continuity and order. Providing me with reliable body armor is an investment in both safety and service, empowering me to continue making a positive impact in my community.

Owning body armor means being better prepared to fulfill my responsibilities as a protector and problem-solver within my school district. It represents a commitment to personal safety and readiness, ensuring I can confidently face challenging and potentially dangerous situations without hesitation. As a School Marshal, it symbolizes the assurance that I’m equipped to protect others while also safeguarding my own life, allowing me to respond effectively in emergencies. In my role as a District IT Technician, it provides peace of mind, knowing that I have an added layer of protection while moving through different areas of the district, sometimes in heightened security situations. Ultimately, owning body armor is a testament to my dedication to my roles, showing that I prioritize not only the well-being of those around me but also my ability to continue serving my community effectively and safely.

Owning body armor is important to me because I’m an armed security guard and there is inherent risk with my job. I work across multiple sites, some sites are more risky than others. The Lord has blessed me with the gift of service. It brings me great joy to be able to make sure that everybody who comes into work and or lives in the area where I work are able to go about their daily lives, knowing that they will come and leave in the same way that they arrived and that I am able to provide that comfort. Knowing that I can serve and protect my community, and if the need may come for me to put myself in the line of harm’s way to protect others, I am willing to do that. In the current situation, I do not own armor, so obviously a situation where I would have to put myself in the line of harm could possibly be fatal. With or without body armor, I will do it. However, it would make it so much easier and much less of a hesitation, knowing that I am protected by such high-quality body armor. Also, knowing that I am a husband and father to five children, knowing that my life is more protected and able to go home to my family every night is a gift and blessing that cannot be replaced.

The biggest reason that I can think of for being chosen is the fact of being a husband and a father. My wife is staying at home. My Mother and I are the only working income in my family. I speak against it in Jesus name, but if anything were ever to happen to me, that would be an extreme detriment to my family. My wife, having to be a single mom to five children, I do not know how she would handle or cope. Myself being selected as a recipient would not only mean safety and security, but an overwhelming blessing from the Lord, knowing that you have blessed me and my family with just a little bit of security, knowing that I can go to work a little bit safer every day.

What owning body armor means to me is being able to do my job every single day without hesitation or fore thought. Knowing that if a danger situation was to arise that there any hint of hesitation would be removed because I would be more protected. Without body armor, I do not believe there would be hesitation regardless of the profession that I have chosen, and how much I love and care about everybody I come into contact with at my job. Though I would prefer not to be in that situation or someone else’s life is in my hands, and they’re being even a hint of a possibility that I may hesitate out of fear and love of knowing what may happen to my family if something was to happen to me.

I guess I would just like to reiterate how much of a blessing this would be to be able to receive donated body armor. The ability to be able to further equip me to do my job better than I already do and without hesitation. I heard it somewhere before I can’t remember, but there are three types of people in this world, sheep, sheepdog, and wolves. Obviously, in this world, there is nothing wrong with people who want to be sheep people who go throughout their daily lives, living in their fields, living happy, fulfilled lives. Then there are sheepdogs who are called to a higher purpose in life to protect us when the wolves may come to endanger and hurt the sheep. I am proud to say that I’ve been called in my life to be a sheepdog to protect the herds. It is my honor and my duty in whatever way informed the Lord will lead me in this profession in this line of work to make sure that I am always there to put myself in harm’s way when the wolves may come to wreak their havoc. I will do everything in my power to make sure that the lives of innocent people will not be harmed. Knowing that I can be a little bit more better equipped and put at ease of mind knowing that I will be able to make it home to my family every night. That is a blessing from above that cannot be replaced and my family and I would be forever grateful to you and your company. Selected or not I thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to share a little bit about me and my family past and present in the future with you. Again, I am Benjamin White, since I have not shared anything about me and my family lol. My wife is Kristen. We have been married for eight years together for 11. We have five beautiful children Hope (4 months), Carson (8 yrs), Kenadie (10 yrs), Annelies (15 yrs) and Andre (17 yrs). Like previously stated I live in Kalamazoo Michigan and I work for a security company called Statewide Security LLC. We work at multiple sites around Kalamazoo. We are a college town. The local university is Western Michigan University, where we do the majority of our patrolling. We patrol at an apartment complex called Nottingham Apartments that can be very sporty at times since it is on campus. We also secure one of the largest sorority houses on campus and we also contract with multiple cannabis shops in town. We are adding new contracts every month. So there is a little background with my family and my job. Again, just reiterating, how much of a blessing it would be to be selected in a blessing in a sense of security that could not be replaced. Again, I thank you for the opportunity