Turner County Sheriff's Deputy Chad Mechels who was killed in the line of duty in March will soon have his name on a National Memorial to fallen officers and tomorrow the community will come together to help his family make the trip to the dedication in Washington D.C.

The South Dakota Sheriff's Association will hold a special poker run tomorrow. Jamie told KSFY tomorrow's fundraiser will be bittersweet but when it comes to emotions, she says she's come a long way since her husband was killed in the line of duty. she says her focus has been more on her young son and daughter than herself. "I am learning that I am stronger than I thought I would be, but I guess you don't know how strong you are until being strong is your only choice," said Mechels.

Ever since Deputy Chad Mechels was gunned down in rural Turner County on March 15th, Jamie Mechels says she owes her strength to the overwhelming support of the law enforcement community. From the massive funeral procession days after the tragedy to a special dedication in Pierre in May. Mechels said, "that is an awesome, awesome feeling. I don't think there is any other occupation in the world that you world that you would see this support that I have received from people that I do not know."

Turner County Sheriff Byron Nogelmeier says he's already heard from emergency responders from miles away willing to extend that support again for tomorrow's poker run. "It's just a great camaraderie of people to get together and pay tribute to Chad and make something good out of something bad that happened," said Nogelmeier.

Jamie added, "I wish he could be here to see this. I wish he could be here to see the support that I'm receiving. He would have been right in there. If it would have been somebody else, he would have been right in there doing the same thing that everybody else is doing for me."

Though Chad can't be there Jamie says she knows he'd like to pass along one simple message. "If Chad could tell you one thing, he would tell you to hug your families. Especially for law enforcement. Hug your families. Tell them you love them before every shift because you never know. Life can change in an instant and you never know when that instant is going to be."

The Sergeant Chad Mechels Memorial Benefit Poker Run held tomorrow in Parker registration is from 10 a.m. to 12:00pm at the Turner County Courthouse it's sponsored by the South Dakota Sheriff's Association.