The Roaddawg 5K is an event that was developed by the friends of West Windsor Township police Lieutenant Keith Hillman and his family in response to his passing. Lt. Hillman was stricken with acute leukemia early in 2006 and he succumbed to the disease in July the same year. The speed and intensity with which the disease took its toll on Keith made even worse the terrible impact his loss has meant to members of the West Windsor PD, his family and friends and the West Windsor community. Lt. Hillman was a leader in every sense of the word during his 20 year career with the WWPD, and not just within the police department. Lt. Hillman offered his time and expertise to serve as a volunteer police officer during the 2002 Olympic games in Salt Lake City, Utah; he developed the community policing unit within the police department as well as many of the initial programs the unit offered to West Windsor; he volunteered his time and energy to assist with recovery efforts in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina; he helped create and supervised the West Windsor Police Emergency Response Team; he taught police officer recruits at several police academies and he taught children the dangers of drugs and the benefits of defensive driving in West Windsor-Plainsboro schools. So many aspects of daily life within the WWPD have been permanently affected by Lt. Hillman’s influence that it is impossible to list them all here.

 

Among Lt. Hillman’s final wishes was the desire for his friends in the community to honor him by donating time and money to benefit others who were stricken with leukemia. The funds raised by the Roaddawg 5K will be used to that end in three ways:

 

1) Funds will be disbursed to aid victims of leukemia and their families in order to defray some of the expenses associated with the costly treatments; Lt. Hillman received excellent treatment at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center in Philadelphia, and most of the funds raised will be earmarked for patients there.

 

2) A scholarship fund will be established to assist students attending both high schools in the West Windsor-Plainsboro school system who have an interest in pursuing law enforcement as a career, although funds will also be offered to students from around Mercer County facing financial hardship.

 

3) After annual disbursement goals are achieved, excess funds will be donated, at the discretion of the board, to other cancer fighting organizations.