The second major fundraising effort for Turlock’s Police Activities League is set to take place on Saturday with the city’s police and fire departments facing off on the softball field.

The Battle of the Badges will see the Turlock Police Department match up against the Turlock Fire Department at 10 a.m. Saturday at Pedretti Field. There is free admission for the game, however, donations will be accepted for the Police Activities League. T-shirts are also being sold in support of P.A.L. for $15 each in the police and fire departments’ lobby at 244 N. Broadway.

“Supporting Turlock P.A.L. is supporting Turlock youth. Come out with your families and enjoy yourselves, watch a good game between fire and police. Help us ensure that the fundraising event is a success as we strive to provide opportunities for our youth to engage with their police officers and build strong and lasting relationships,” said Turlock Police Chief Nino Amirfar.

P.A.L. programs were started as an effort to prevent juvenile crime and provide mentorship to children in the community. In Turlock the organization was very active in the community and within the police department until a federal law brought an abrupt stop to officers volunteering their time to the organization. The Federal Labor Standard Act states that “public sector employers may not allow their employees to volunteer, without compensation, additional time to do the same work for which they are employed.” Since the P.A.L. program provides a benefit to the police department in the realm of community service, volunteering became a gray area for the officers that was best avoided. But Chief Amirfar has a simple solution: he’s just going to pay the officers for their time.

“I believe this is an important program for the department to be involved in,” Amirfar said in May, when launching the police department’s new efforts to supporting P.A.L.

For more information on donating to the P.A.L. program or becoming a sponsor call 668-5594.