Last year Firegeezer alerted our readers to the magnificent Hero To Hero program originated and run by Liz Jackson of Tacoma, Washington. Her project involves collecting tens of thousands of T-shirts from fire, ems and police departments throughout the United States and Canada. These are then sent to deployed military troops in the Middle East with attempts to match up T-shirts with troops from the same locales. From heroes to heroes.

All the shirts are signed with good wishes and the signatures of the groups that are donating them and they are a tremendously big hit with the troops. You can read more about her project at the Hero To Hero website HERE.

This year Liz was restricted from her annual tour across the continent visiting 55 cities in 55 days because of an unfortunate medical problem. But she was able to get out to a few of them and this year’s last stop was at the Pentagon on Memorial Day. Since she couldn’t travel to the D. C. area departments, they all sent representatives - and over 400 T-shirts - to the Pentagon parking lot to put on a lovely greeting and presentation for Liz and her husband.

Joel Kobersteen addresses the participants
and presents the shirts to the Hero-To-Hero campaign.

Joel Kobersteen of IAFF Local 2068, Fairfax County, Va., organized and coordinated the event. It was such a success that Liz “appointed” Joel to be the East Coast organizer of next year’s tour. Liz keeps a blog journal of all her visits over the past few years and you can read her entry for this stop HERE. Click on it and you’ll see the photo gallery of nearly 200 pictures taken at the Pentagon that day, too.

Liz Jackson addresses the gathering

Firegeezer has Joel’s assurance that he’ll be passing on next year’s plans in plenty of time to help get our many readers involved with it. We’re looking forward to helping out.

The fire and police agencies that participated in the Memorial Day event were:
* Fairfax County (VA) Fire & Rescue Department and Local 2068
* City of Fairfax (VA) Fire Department and Local 2702
* Stafford County (VA) Fire & Rescue Department and Local 4012
* Arlington County (VA) Fire Department and Local 2800
* Charlottesville (VA) Fire Department and Local 2363
* Harrisonburg (VA) Fire Department and Local 3254
* Loudoun County (VA) Fire and Rescue Department and Local 3756
* Washington, D.C. Fire & EMS Department and Local 36
* Prince Georges County (MD) Fire Department and Local 1619
* Metropolitan Washington Airport Authority Fire Department and
Local 3217
* National Capital Area Federal Fire Fighters Local F121
* Fairfax County (VA) Police Department and IUPA Local 5000
* Pentagon Police Department

TV Channel 5 interviews Liz for the evening news

THE YORKSHIRE AIR AMBULANCE SERVICE IN ENGLAND has been given an extra lift this week.

A women’s charitable club, the Soroptimist International, has organized a campaign to collect unwanted women’s underwear (no smart remarks, please….FG) to be resold in 3rd-world countries that cannot afford the new stuff.  The proceeds from the sale are being used to give added support to the local air ambulance.

“What You Take Off  Helps Us Take Off” is the campaign slogan for the Bag It Up project.  Campaign organizer Linda Gerraghty said: “This is an ideal time of year to have a good cupboard clear-out and pass on any unused new or good quality used bras for this worthwhile cause to help less fortunate women worldwide.”

Halifax Courier/Swift photo

One of the local shops has helped fill the cup by donating 114 new bras.  The overall goal is to collect 200,000 bras which will raise £10,000 and pay for more than 30 air missions.

The Halifax Courier has this uplifting story HERE.

WHEN THE STAFFORD COUNTY, VIRGINIA Fire and Rescue members started counting out their collection from the weekend’s “Fill the Boot” campaign, they came across something a little unusual.  Amongst the coins, bills and fake fingernails they found a men’s wedding ring.

They’re now out looking for somebody who’s been sleeping in his car for the last couple of nights.

The Free Lance-Star has the full STORY.

THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FIREFIGHTERS, the union representing fire and rescue workers in the U. S. and Canada,  announced yesterday that its members raised a record-setting $25.5 million for the MDA.  Appearing on the Muscular Dystrophy Association tele-thon, IAFF President Harold Schaitberger informed Jerry Lewis of the preliminary count and stated that the total exceeded last year’s collection by nearly $2 million.

More on the IAFF WEBSITE.

The 11th annual FDNY “Calendar of Heroes” was released on this past Tuesday with much publicity and a brief ceremony.  The calendar is produced by the FDNY Foundation, a nonprofit organization that, while independent of the Fire Department, raises money for FDNY equipment and training.

However, shortly after this year’s release it was disclosed that the “cover boy” had previously acted in a commercial porn video and withheld the fact during the “vetting” process for this year’s issue.

An obviously angry Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta responded to the salacious developments by prohibiting city firefighters from ever posing for the charity calendar.  This year’s print run already available will continue to be sold, but there will be no more.  Not this year, nor again.

“We will no longer be participating in this. There will be no more calendars,” said FDNY spokesman Francis Gribbon.

“We are in agreement with the decision,” said Jean O’Shea, the foundation’s executive director. “We’re disappointed, but the department’s reputation is more important than raising money.”

You can read the full story in today’s Daily News HERE.
The New York Post also has a STORY.

Firegeezer adds:  As a field officer, I would be very concerned about his decision-making processes.  In this case Biserta chose to put his own self interest ahead of what was good for the department by hiding any potentially damaging information about himself.  How is he going to respond during an emergency incident when complete teamwork is vital for the success of the operation?  Is he going to revert to his natural selfishness, or will he perform as the overall scheme requires?  Personally, right now I would be hesitant to give him any decision-making responsibilities.

HEY, LOOK WHO WE SPOTTED at Saturday’s WJFK Junkette Bikini Car Wash? Stonewall Jackson VFD Engine 11 in Prince William County, VA. The event was held at the Hooters in Manassas. Junkettes Kat, Lauren and Shannon soaped up a slew of cars with help from some of the Hooters girls. The proceeds of the car wash all went to charity. The Junkettes are part of the Junkies morning radio show broadcasting from the Washington, D.C. CBS Radio affiliate WJFK-FM. I’m sure this was tough duty for these guys! Click on the thumbnails for more pictures from the event below …