True to form, with a beautiful day to collect, A-shift finished the 2024 Fill the Boot campaign strong with $42,879.16 collected for the day! Bringing in online donations, which proved to be a great alternative, our amazing communications professionals of DPSC and our friends in EMS Training and the Motor Carrier Safety Unit of the Fairfax County Police Department, the grand total added up to $174,855.51.
Highest collecting stations today:
-
FS40/A - $4,167.96
-
FS05/A - $3,571.78
-
FS25/A - $3.280.00
Highest collecting stations per capita today:
-
FS05/A - $357.18 per person
-
FS25/A - $328.00 per person
-
FS40/A - $297.71 per person
Highest collecting stations of the campaign:
-
FS21/B - $7,151.88
-
FS40/A - $4,167.96
-
FS24/B - $3,868.36
Highest collecting stations per capita of the campaign:
-
FS21/B - $715.19 per person
-
FS27/B - $512.85 per person
-
FS02/C - $463.42 per person
Thank you to all stations and shifts who took time out of their schedule to collect, regardless of total. Historically, I began posting leaderboards due to requests from stations and shifts wanting to know how they rank. Wait... firefighters are competitive? Say it isn't so. For those people, I am proud to announce that we took the lead for the highest collecting Fill the Boot in the US and Canada for 2024 from Dallas, Texas who collected $166,570.
Thanks in part to our collections, MDA was able to lobby federal, state and local legislators around the nation to include Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type 1 (SMA Type 1) in the newborn testing panel. SMA Type 1, left undiagnosed and treated, is fatal within 18 months of life. In addition, the FDA approved two medications that are not only stopping the progression of SMA, but, in some cases, reversing it. Progress might be as simple as a child being able to brush their teeth or embrace their parents for the first time, or as complex as not being dependent on a wheelchair for mobility.
In addition, MDA has taken part in studies that have found that firefighters have a two-fold risk of contracting ALS or Lou Gehrig's Disease. See this video from the IAFF Convention in Boston last week:
https://youtu.be/rqZvSdRrK94?si=LxtFV54bpYk5qzVv
Last but not least, I want to thank those that worked behind the scenes delivering snacks and drinks, running errands, retrieving money from stations, providing security and preparing the collections for deposit. Those consisted of volunteer, career, active, retired, uniformed and civilian members from the Fire & Rescue Department, Police Department, CERT, Department of Vehicle Services, Department of Public Safety Communications, Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Retirement Association, friends and family.
On behalf of the leadership of Local 2068, the Fire & Rescue Department and the Muscular Dystrophy Association, thank you for your participation and dedication to the campaign.