Founded in 1997, the Gold Shield Foundation of Metro Atlanta is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation serving the Metropolitan Atlanta area. 

On October 12, 1997, Atlanta police officer John R. Sowa was killed in the line of duty.  At that time a small number of service minded individuals pulled together to aid the Sowa family, and from that act, the Gold Shield Foundation was formed.

Originally established for the purpose of assisting the surviving spouses and dependant children of law enforcement officers and firefighters killed in the line of duty, the Foundation's mission has broadly grown as we have diligently listened to the needs from within the fire and police communities in which we serve.  Today, the Gold Shield Foundation works tirelessly to provide aid for law enforcement officers, firefighters, their spouses and their children, whose lives have been altered as a result of line of duty deaths and injuries.