68 VENTURES COMPANIES DONATE TO BALDWIN COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE FOUNDATION

Seven 68 Ventures companies donated a total of $5,000 in support of the BCSO Foundation’s annual Pheasant Hunt and Family Day

December 8, 2022 (Daphne, Ala.): The holiday season is a time for giving, and several 68 Ventures companies have joined together to support the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office (BSCO) Foundation. The companies donated a total of $6,000 in conjunction with the Foundation’s annual Family Day and Pheasant Hunt, to be used to support law enforcement officers during the holiday season and to fund other initiatives throughout the year.

Led by John Morgan, president of Mobile Bay Overhead Door, companies that contributed include 68 Ventures, Mobile Bay Overhead Door, TerraCore Development, MH Vertical, Aegis Exteriors, MH Vertical, Kent’s Landscaping, First Four Staffing, Crucible Construction and Truland Homes.

“After spending most of my career in law enforcement, supporting these officers remains one of my top priorities as a business owner,” said Morgan. “The BCSO Foundation does so much good in our community, and I’m honored to be able to support that. I’m grateful to my fellow 68 Ventures companies for jumping in on this as well.

The Baldwin County Sherriff’s Foundation programs include the Shining Star Program, a summer camp program for kids ages 8-12 to experience firsthand public safety and to build life skills, instill confidence and develop self-esteem through a wide range of curriculum emphasizing the importance of physical and mental fitness.

The Foundation also hosts an annual Memorial Golf Tournament supporting youth summer camps, including the Shining Star Program, drug awareness education programs and school resource officer programs; Project Life Saver to help track individuals with Alzheimer’s, dementia, autism or other disorders, who wander off and become lost; and a Fit For Duty 5k.

“We at 68 Ventures are grateful to John and his team at Mobile Bay Overhead Door for leading this initiative for a worthy program in our hometown,” said Nathan Cox, Founder and CEO of 68 Ventures. “Our purpose is to see all we can do with all we have been given, and John and his team are prime examples of that purpose.”

For more information on the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office Foundation, visit bcsofoundation.baldwincountyal.gov.

The Cox Family Foundation has donated land for the construction of the Baldwin Prep Academy campus in Loxley. 

Part of the Baldwin County School System, Baldwin Prep Academy will be a competitive, academically rigorous, full-time campus. The $73 million high school will combine academics and real life, on-the-job experiences for students in the career field of their choice. The state-of-the-art technical school, located in Loxley along Highway 59 on approximately 70 acres, will be the first of its kind in Alabama. It is the culmination of years of planning and partnerships to help address growing demands on the local workforce.

Graduates of Baldwin Prep will be prepared for college, a career, or whatever path life takes them on. Baldwin Preparatory Academy is expected to open doors to students in the fall of 2024. Current seventh and eighth graders will be the first classes entering into the new high school based on current construction timelines. The 70 acres of land, on which the school is being built, was donated by the Cox Family Foundation.

The USS ALABAMA Battleship Memorial Park is home to the Fallen Heroes Memorial paying tribute to all the Alabamians who have given their lives in service since 9/11.

The USS ALABAMA Battleship Memorial Park is home to the Fallen Heroes Memorial paying tribute to all the Alabamians who have given their lives in service since 9/11.
During the dedication ceremony held in 2015, hundreds showed up to view the new memorial which contains 146 names of Alabama troops who lost their lives in the war on terror.

A 2011 Press Register article recounts how former U.S. Marine Nathan Cox knows first-hand about fallen heroes — he lost his best friend in Afghanistan and witnessed another buddy killed in action in Iraq.

The article goes on to explain that Cox spearheaded efforts to raise the money to build the Fallen Heroes Memorial and place it at the USS ALABAMA Battleship Memorial Park in Mobile. The project was started to honor the military personnel who lost their lives in the war in Iraq and Afghanistan after Sept. 11, 2001.

Local artist Casey Downing took almost a year to complete the bronze sculpture depicting the ceremony conducted in combat zones that marks the death of a soldier. The memorial stands 20 feet tall and 8 feet wide with a six-sided granite base honoring each of the U.S. service organizations – Marines, Navy, Army, Air Force and Coast Guard – with the sixth side listing the names of the those who have died.

The sculpture is a soldier’s boots with a rifle positioned between them. Dog tags hang from the rifle and a helmet rest atop it.

Cox, who was deployed to Iraq with 3rd Battalion 6th Marines as a rifle platoon commander in 2005 and 2006, said in the article that at the time of a soldier’s death, each platoon member had a moment to kneel at the makeshift battlefield memorial and say goodbye to their friend.

“When you’re out in the combat zone, and can hear bombs or rifle fire, a lot of tears are shed,” he said. “Anytime I see it, I get choked up.”