Trish Bennett, Editor
CIRCLEVILLE – The Circleville Firefighters Union Local #1232 delivered more than $7,000 to the Muscular Dystrophy Association on Thursday from its recent Fill The Boot drive held during Labor Day weekend.
The donations from local residents totaled $7,611.63 to benefit the MDA’s central Ohio chapter, according to Captain Arron Kerns, event organizer. It was the largest amount collected by the local department to date for MDA.
Previous Fill The Boot efforts locally netted $5,381 in 2012; $5,096 in 2013; and only about $1,300 between community contributions and a union donation in 2014.
Kerns said the reason for the spike this year is uncertain, but it may have been partially the result of firefighters actually mingling with motorists in the street in front of the fire station this year instead of waiting on the sidelines for people to pull in.
He also credits a partnership with Julie Dresbach from Scioto Valley Coffee, who provided $1 reusable coupons for firefighters to distribute for donations throughout the event.
Rory Eustace, fundraising coordinator for MDA, said 77 cents of every dollar donated to the organization is used for things like research, group therapy, medical supplies, summer camp for kids and more.
Eustace said the contribution from Circleville this year was substantial for a community this size, and he thanked the local residents as well as the firefighters for “putting themselves out there” for the cause.
In addition to the Circleville firefighters in the local union, Kerns said Tig Clark, a Pickaway Township firefighter, also volunteered his time to help with the fundraising drive.
For more information about the Muscular Dystrophy Association, visit www.mda.org.
This article originally appeared on The Pickaway News Journal
