Charity | Firegeezer

THE KNIGHTSTOWN, INDIANA, VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT was just two weeks away from having to close their doors when a true angel dropped in to save the department. The community VFD located on the National Road just east of Indianapolis, was equipped with SCBA’s from a manufacturer that went out of business recently, and they were faced with a forced shutdown because they were unable to get the air packs re-certified.

The $75,000 needed to replace their SCBA’s was too much for them to come up with and the prospects looked gloomy.

By a bit of fortune the department’s chaplain, Mark Tabb is a professional writer who is currently authoring the memoirs of Helen Rosburg, the heiress to the Wrigley chewing gum fortune. Knowing that she is well-connected with many wealthy and charitable organizations, Tabb asked her for some advice on how to secure a donation that was desperately needed to keep the VFD operating.

But instead of giving him advice, Miss Rosburg stepped up and donated the sum herself. Yesterday she came by the firehouse to meet the members and they had a nice thank-you party where they made her an honorary lifetime member. WRTV Ch. 6 Indianapolis had their video crew there and filed this nice report:

A UNION HILL, NEW YORK, VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTER HAD A TRAGIC turn of health recently. Longtime member, Marty Blakely was on vacation this summer when he became ill from a blood clot in his leg. Diagnosis found that the clot was a product of a cancerous tumor in his leg and it had to be amputated. Marty has a family and now a very limited means of support, so the FD held a fund-raiser to help with his expenses.

When someone at the Rochester Scooter Store heard of his plight, they went through corporate headquarters and tapped into the company’s “Gift of Mobility” program, which provides mobility equipment and assistance to those who do not have the resources or insurance to obtain power wheelchairs and scooters. At the fund-raiser in the Damascus Shrine Center, he was presented with a 3-wheel electric scooter.

“Marty is a young man with a young family who is going through an incredible journey right now,” said Fire Department Chief Brian Ball. “A past chief and dedicated volunteer, he is now in a day-to-day struggle at just 41 years old. Mobility is a huge issue since he lost his leg. His inability to care for himself without aid is a major physical and emotional obstacle.”

The full story of this wonderful gesture can be read in this release issued through PRNewswire HERE.

union hill vfd