Firefighters Raise Money for MDA with ‘Fill the Boot’ Campaign

A news release:

Farmington Hills firefighters, Local #2659, will be raising funds for the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) at the city’s Founders Festival to raise funds for local patients and families living with neuromuscular disease.

You can find the firefighters out collecting at the festival beer tent on July 17 and 18; and inside the festival at their tent collecting July 17, 18 and 19, with all proceeds benefiting local MDA families. The department will also be out in the streets collecting August 2 and 3 in front of Kroger at 12 Mile and Halsted with a fire apparatus and MDA/IAFF banners.

With the generous support of the community, members will be raising money in the quest to overcome life-changing muscle diseases.  Last year, the department raised over $1,500 for MDA and they are looking to match or surpass that number this year.

Departments across the state participate in Fill the Boot all throughout the year to raise funds. 2014 marks the 60thAnniversary of partnership between the International Association of Firefighters Union (IAFF) and MDA, and MDA is proud to have the Farmington Hills Department’s continued partnership and commitment for Fill the Boot. Since 1954, members of the IAFF and the Michigan Professional Firefighters Union (MPFFU) have been committed to the eradication of neuromuscular diseases. Fill the Boot campaigns are the primary means by which the IAFF has raised $500 million for MDA since 1954, and MDA is grateful for the IAFF and MPFFU’s longtime friendship and support.  

Fill the Boot funds support MDA’s services locally and nationally, including medical clinics staffed with specialists in muscle disease and accessible summer camp for kids. Local clinics and camps benefiting from Fill the Boot funds include Children’s Hospital in Detroit, the Michigan Institute for Neuromuscular Disorders (M.I.N.D.) in Farmington Hills, and a weeklong session of summer camp at Camp Cavell in Lexington, MI.

Local research is currently being performed at Michigan State University, University of Toledo and the University of Michigan. There are over 2,500 families affected within the neuromuscular disease in the Metro Detroit area.

Founded in 1950, MDA is a voluntary health agency working to defeat more than 40 neuromuscular diseases through programs of worldwide research, comprehensive service, and far-reaching professional and public health education. The Association’s programs are funded almost entirely by individual private contributions.