LAKELAND — The auditorium was filled with people who came to enjoy a wild game supper with hopes of leaving with a gun, knife or hunting trip. Sen. Saxby Chambliss stood before the crowd with his arm around a 10-year-old girl who lost her father to a roadside bomb in Iraq.

The girl, Taylor Mae Heldt of Washington, Mo., came to Lakeland’s Deer Fest Saturday night with her grandmother, Gail Kriete, at the invitation of Larry Lee, one of the event’s organizers. “I met this young girl and I was very moved by her story and by the organization she represents … I wanted the people at Deer Fest to hear what I had heard,” Lee said.

Lance Cpl. Erik Heldt died June 16, 2005, in Iraq when his vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive device near Ramadi.

Taylor and her grandmother represent a national group known as TAPS (Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors). The organization was formed in 1992 to help survivors of military men and women who lost their lives while on active duty.

“TAPS was founded in the wake of a military tragedy — the deaths of eight soldiers aboard an Army National Guard aircraft in November 1992. In the months and years following the loss of their loved ones, the survivors turned to various grief support organizations for comfort; but when they turned to each other for comfort and to share common fears and problems, they found strength and truly began to heal. They realized that the tragedy they shared, losing a loved one in the line of military duty, was far different from other types of losses. They shared pride in their spouses’ service to America, and tremendous sadness at the ultimate sacrifices their loved ones made,” according to the organization.

Chambliss spoke proudly of the men and women serving in the military and added his endorsement to this organization that brings such needed support to the survivors of the ones who have lost their lives serving their country. Both he and Lee said that no better tribute could be paid to these people than to help their loved ones.

The crowd agreed and put up $5,500 for a matching amount from FMB Bankshares, the holding company of Farmers and Merchants Bank, for a total gift of $11,000.

“I have never seen anything like it … the community made us feel like family,” Taylor’s “Nana”, Kriete, said on Monday. “We arrived on Friday and when we got to Lakeland she played with kids you would have thought she had known forever. Larry and Ann (Lee) took us into their home and treated us like family …. This community cares about us. Taylor felt very special Saturday night.”