SILVERHILL, Alabama --- Want to get some good barbecue this weekend while at the same time supporting a local police department? You need look no further than Silverhill Town Hall.

The Silverhill Police Department and F.O.P. Lodge #43 will be selling barbecue chicken and rib dinners on Saturday beginning at 11 a.m. at the Town Hall, located on Highway 104 in Silverhill.

Chicken dinners with baked beans, cole slaw and bread, will cost $8 each. Rib dinners with all the fixings will cost $10 each. You can also purchase a slab of ribs for $25.

A portion of the proceeds will go to the F.O.P., a fraternal organization that supports police officers.

“They provide support for officers and their families when an officer is involved in a shooting,” said Silverhill Police Chief Kim Wasdin. “They also do a lot of charity work and community support.”

The F.O.P. Lodge also maintains a shooting range in Fairhope that is open to its members, both among the law enforcement community and the general population, Wasdin said, and also provides a shooting hut which is available to officers for training throughout Baldwin County.

Another portion will benefit the Silverhill PD reserves and will go toward the purchase of uniforms and equipment.

The Silverhill Police Department maintains eight reserves with a cost for equipment and uniforms of about $500 per officer per year, Wasdin said.

“So far we have been able to provide for these officers without it having to come out of the town’s general fund,” she said. “We’re hoping to maintain this account so that expenses for our reserve officers do not come out of the town’s budget.”

Part of the proceeds will be set aside for the purchase and maintenance of a K-9 patrol officer for the Silverhill PD, Wasdin said.

Tervell Lee, an officer with the department, has been training with the Baldwin County’s Sheriff’s deputies and officers with other departments in Baldwin County to use a K-9 officer in narcotics investigations, Wasdin said. She also hopes to train another officer to work with a K-9 officer.

“It is my hope that one of these two officers will eventually be able to work with the dog,” she said.

A fully-trained K-9 officer can cost anywhere from $6,000 to $10,000 depending on the breed, level of training and where the dog comes from, Wasdin said. The department also hopes to maintain a fund of about $4,000 for care and maintenance of the K-9 officer.

In the past the department received donations for a K-9 officer formerly used by the department, including a bullet-proof vest, but the new dog will have to be fitted for its own vest, Wasdin said.

“Just like for a human officer, the vest will have to be custom fitted to the dog,” she said. A bullet-proof vest for the K-9 officer will cost about $800.

For more information call Wasdin at the Silverhill Police Department, 251-945-5200 or Ron Bankston at 251-979-8494.