While there have been incidents of mistrust and unrest between communities and first responders across parts of the nation, area first responders are lacing up their sneakers for an event that will bridge the gap between them and the community.

Beaufort County Police Activities League will host its second annual First Responders Goodwill Basketball Game, where a team of first responders will face off against the Harlem Ambassadors, a co-ed professional basketball team that has traveled the world since 1998 to play various teams and provides entertaining comedic basketball with dazzling ball handling skills and high-flying dunks, according to Al Powell, president of BCPAL. The home team is made up of representatives from various organizations such as the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office, Washington Police Department, Washington Fire Department, local EMTs, Beaufort County Schools and the U.S. Coast Guard.

BCPAL is an organization that exposes youth to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) activities and coordinates special events to help facilitate understanding, trust and cooperation between first responders and the community. Through this mission, the event was coordinated and held for the first time last year.

“An event like this allows the community to interact with first responders, but just as important, it allows them to interact with the community and both sides get a chance to humanize with each other,” Powell said. “An event like this also helps facilitate healing, trust and understanding before an incident occurs. So should an incident occur in the line of duty, that trust will have already been established and will allow factual investigation and honest resolution of the situation before inflammatory, non-truthful events can interfere with the facts.

This year’s event will also include a lineup of indoor and outdoor static displays, including classic cars, motorcycles, fire trucks, boats from Park Boat Company, Beaufort County Schools’ public safety program, BCPAL, Dillon’s Aviation and U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary. The event’s highlight, Vidant’s $4 million “East Care Medic-Vac” helicopter, is scheduled to land and be available as a static display from 4-5:15 p.m., Powell said. Also in attendance will be a representative of the FBI from Charlotte.

Thanks to sponsorship and donations from various businesses, as well as the C.J. Wilson Foundation, headed by Beaufort County native, East Carolina University graduate and NFL player C.J. Wilson, free tickets are available for giveaway on a first come, first serve basis to 160 Beaufort County students and 60 parents, Powell said. The tickets are available at S.W. Snowden Elementary School, Chocowinity Middle School and Chocowinity Primary School.

“We’re trying to make it where everyone can see this family, fun event through generosity of some local donors,” Powell said.

According to Charlie Rose, chief deputy with the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office, first responders in the area are excited about the event.

“I’m excited about any opportunity for (first responders) to interact with children, especially in a non-adversarial way,” Rose said. “Games like this are perfect for that. It’s a chance for the community and anyone else to interact and see the people responding to emergencies in a situation where it’s not an emergency. You see them smiling and having a good time. The more (attendees) the better; we need more opportunities to do that. Anytime the sheriff’s office can participate in things like this, we’re going to do it.”

The event will be held at Southside High School on Saturday, with outdoor static displays opening at 3:30 p.m. The gym opens at 5:30 p.m. and game time is 6:30 p.m. Tickets are available for purchase at the Washington Chamber of Commerce, Frank’s Pizza of Washington, First Bank of Washington and Bat-Tle Hair Salon of Aurora. Tickets, which are limited in availability, can be purchased for children and senior citizens over 60 for $3; tickets for adult attendees are $5 in advance and $7 at the door.

Southside High School is located at 5700 N.C. Highway 33 East, Chocowinity.