This past month has brought our families tragedies on many levels, from retiree deaths to firefighters and their children stricken with life threatening conditions. It has been a truly humbling experience to witness firefighter brothers and sisters from both chapters pulling resources together to provide as much support as possible. For decades this Union has established different funds to help families in time of need and we are now organizing to broaden our means to provide help to our own members and their families. Many of us take for granted that life’s tragedies hit us just as hard as the public we serve, if not even harder. Our profession has evolved significantly through the years along with rising call volume that directly contributes to very high stress levels. Firefighters historically put themselves last in prioritizing the well being of their families. This Union will remain committed to providing assistance in every way possible. For these reasons we have created the Firefighter Survivors Fund. The first contribution to this fund is from Jason Valles who was overwhelmed with the amount of support he received from his house fire and felt compelled to give back to his membership and their families. Although his contribution is a modest one the principle alone is invaluable! Thank you Brother Valles for your compassion. The Executive Board will discuss forming a Committee for purposes of funding and regulating the Firefighter Survivors Fund at the next meeting.

We are in the process of scheduling the inaugural ‘Swing for Survivors Golf Tournament’ with proceeds going to Firefighters who have been stricken by life threaten conditions. Also, we are planning an annual ‘Swing for Survivors Softball Tournament’ to assist children of Firefighters who suffer from severe medical conditions. We will post the dates and information as soon as it is available. We would like to acknowledge Brothers Martin Salazar and Jeremy Polk for helping us organize these events to help the Firefighter Survivor Fund.

Below are two links where you can contribute today to these Brothers’ causes:

Firefighter Vince Cordova

http://firefightercordova.blogspot.com/

Paramedic Firefighter Colt Greene

http://firefighterneedsyourhelp.blogspot.com/