Press release from Fill-the-Boot:
Asheville Firefighters will be out in force Saturday morning, holding Fill-the-Boot events at two Asheville locations to raise money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.
Donations can be placed in firefighter boots at Pack Square in downtown Asheville and at the Harris Teeter on Merrimon Avenue. The fundraiser runs 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
“Working with and for the MDA kids has made an incredible impact on my life,” said AFD Senior Firefighter John Ellis. “These kids have been through so much and they’re so tough. They deserve every bit of help we can possibly get them.”
Along with a group of other AFD firefighters, Ellis also spends a week at MDA camp each summer, working closely with local kids affected by the disease.
The last Asheville Fill-the-Boot was cancelled during a late winter snowstorm, so firefighters are even more motivated now to raise funds.
“The International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) is the largest national sponsor of the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA),” states the IAFF Web site. “More than 280,000 members of the IAFF in the United States and Canada are pledged to saving lives, both as fire fighters and paramedics and as the strongest campaigners for the worldwide research efforts of MDA to eradicate 40 neuromuscular diseases. The contributions of the fire fighters also go towards MDA’s summer camps for children, professional and public health education, and other programs.”
In 2016 alone, almost 4,000 kids afflicted with one of the related diseases attended MDA Summer Camp free of charge, according to the MDA website.
For more information about Firefighters and the MDA visit: iaff.org/MDA/history.asp
For information about the MDA and the neuromuscular diseases the organization fights visit: mda.org/
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