The Valdosta Daily Times
VALDOSTA —
Firefighters with the Valdosta Fire Department recently went out in the community to fill their fire boots with donations to benefit the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA).
Firefighters collected donations from passersby at Walmart, Harveys, and Winn-Dixie locations for three days, Aug. 26-28.
The Valdosta Fire Department has participated in this event for several years.
This year’s boot drive brought in $8,646 for MDA.
Thousands of firefighters nationwide have been contributing to MDA in various capacities since 1954. Funds raised by the firefighters give MDA, a voluntary health agency, the means to continue providing direct services, research, and professional and public health education to children and adults with neuromuscular diseases in Northeast Florida and Southeast Georgia.
MDA medical services are available in Jacksonville at Nemours Children’s Clinic and Mayo Clinic for those who are diagnosed with any of the 43 neuromuscular diseases covered by MDA. The annual MDA summer camp is also funded by the firefighters’ donations. The fun-filled summer camp hosts individuals, ages 6 to 18, with muscular dystrophy.
MDA is the nonprofit health agency dedicated to curing muscular dystrophy, ALS, and related diseases by funding worldwide research. The association also provides comprehensive health care and support services, advocacy, and education.
The Valdosta Fire Department will continue collecting donations online until after the Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon at www.joinmda.org/filltheboot10.
For more information about the Fill the Boot campaign or MDA, please call Nancy Tufts at (904) 296-6799 or visit www.mda.org.
