When a Newman police corporal was killed, one Merced County FFA chapter wanted to help

The annual Gustine Future Farmers of America booster dinner and auction generated a donation of more than $7,000 to the family of Newman Police Corporal Ronil Singh on Saturday night.

A plaque created by Gustine agriculture instructor Kelly Sanches, 44, was auctioned off.

“We had a large group of people who drew up the price to $4,800,” said Sanches, who has been teaching at Gustine High for 18 years. “The person who won the auction donated the plaque back. We sold it again and it raised another $1,300. That person donated the plaque back again.”

Sanches said the plaque, which features an American flag made of 10-gauge carbon black steel with one blue stripe painted in the middle. A Bible verse on the top of the plaque reads: “Blessed are the peacemakers. For they shall be called children of God.”

Singh was shot and killed while making a traffic stop on Dec. 26. He was survived by his wife, Anamika, and their young son.

Sanches says the money will be brought to the Newman Police Department, which has set up an account for the Singh family.

“We felt this would be a great platform to do something for the family,” Sanches said. “As a group of boosters and ag teachers, we thought what can we do? We decided to use the night as an opportunity.”

A pledge sheet was also passed around, which collected another $1,000 in donations.

Sanches said they had no idea how much money they would be able to raise on Saturday night. They felt anything was better than nothing.

He said it was a special feeling for everyone involved when they saw the price of the plaque go up during the auction.

“Honestly, it was a little emotional,” Sanches said. “A lot of people got together to make this happen. Newman is only 4 miles from Gustine, but they are in Stanislaus County. Our FFA club actually has more involvement with Atwater and Merced than we do with our neighboring town.

“So it was nice to see one community come together for another community. Never in my wildest dreams did I think we’d raise this kind of money.”

Sanches says people from UC Davis have reached out to him about creating another plaque that they could use to do a similar fundraiser for Davis police officer Natalie Corona, who was killed in the line of duty earlier this month.

This story was originally published January 30, 2019 at 4:15 PM.