Local firefighters work to ‘Fill the Boot’ in La Cañada
La Canada Flintridge Fire Station 82 firefighter specialist John Kaulback gets donations from local residents at Foothill and La Canada boulevards during the annual Fill the Boot campaign benefiting MDA, in La Ca–ada Flintridge on Friday, July 10, 2015.
Local firefighters hit the juncture of Foothill and Verdugo boulevards on July 9 with boots in hand for a three-day fundraiser benefiting the Muscular Dystrophy Assn.
Firefighter specialist Jerry Wolack from Los Angeles County Fire Department Station No. 82 in La Cañada joined his colleagues bright and early on the first day, asking drivers and pedestrians to “Fill the Boot” to contribute to the Muscular Dystrophy Assn., which funds research and supports families living with neuromuscular disorders.
“We have the perfect location at Foothill and Verdugo — on my particular corner I must have seen about 1,000 cars go by in an hour,” Wolack said after his fundraising shift. “Especially in a city like La Cañada, there are many generous people.”
PHOTOS: Firefighters work to fill their boots for the Muscular Dystrophy Assn.
Elizabeth Tenpas, director of business development for the Muscular Dystrophy Assn., said last year’s nationwide event helped raise $28 million for families served by the organization. Some of those funds allowed kids ages 6 to 17 attend MDA Summer Camp, an experience created especially for young people with neuromuscular disorders.
Tenpas said Wolack and his cohorts from the county fire department’s Battalion No. 4 raised $2,266 in La Cañada Flintridge alone on the event’s first day, and had brought in a total of $12,909 from two collection sites by Saturday.
All told, collections taken from stops in Los Angeles and Orange counties this year amounted to $247,489, Tenpas reported.
“And that’s just collecting people’s spare change and dollars,” she added.
The partnership between the MDA and the International Assn. of Fire Fighters began 60 years ago, when a East Coast firefighter’s young grandson was struck with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, one of 43 different neuromuscular disorders addressed by the association, Tenpas said.
Today, it’s an easy partnership for both sides and, according to Wolack, something team members enjoy doing.
“It’s a great cause. We kind of have a competition,” he said. “I’ve been in battalions that have raised $14,000 in three days.”
And the fact that everyone loves a firefighter doesn’t exactly hurt the cause.
“I’m not bragging, but people like firemen, and like to donate,” Wolack said.
