Firefighter Charles Heard and Shriner Charlie Bailey collect donations during last year’s boot drive.
When you drop your money into the boots held by Whitfield County firefighters this weekend, you will be helping them help kids who have suffered burn injuries.
For the second year in a row, the firefighters are teaming up with the Dalton Shriners, and representatives from both organizations will be collecting donations together at the usual five locations around the county on Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Firefighters and Shriners will be accepting donations at the following intersections:
Station 1 – Cleveland Highway and the North Bypass
Stations 2 and 10 – Cleveland Highway and Ga.
Highway 2
Stations 3 and 8 – Airport Road and Chatsworth Highway
Stations 4 and 5 – Highway 41 and Connector 3
Stations 6, 7, and 9 – Highway 201 and Highway 41
“Prior to last year, we had always teamed up with the Georgia Firefighters Burn Foundation,” Lt. Chris West said, “but we had been approached by the Shriners several times in the past about the possibility of working together. Last year, we finally teamed up with the Shriners and raised more money than we ever had, so we wanted to do it again. As always, we appreciate the support we always receive from our local residents.”
Appropriately enough, the name of the boot drive will again be “Whitfield Firefighters and Dalton Shriners Team Up for Kids.”
In the past, the firefighters had collected anywhere from $14,000 to $17,000, Mr. West said, but last year they were able to collect a record $20,015.99 in just four hours – nearly $3,000 more than 2015 and up about $5,000 over 2014.
“We found out that 100 percent of the money collected by the Shriners goes straight to their hospitals to pay for the treatment of kids,” Mr. West said, “and that impressed us.”
Seventy-five percent of the money collected here will go towards treating young burn victims at Shriners’ hospitals, including one in Cincinnati supported by the Dalton Shriners, and the other 25 percent will go toward the Whitfield County Fire Department’s “Santa in Uniform” program for the second year in a row.
Mr. West said the firefighters hope to have enough money to buy $100 worth of Christmas presents for 25 underprivileged children to be selected by local school counselors and the Department of Family and Children Services, the way they did last year.
“These kids will again meet at one location, and we’ll bus them to a fire station and then take them to the mall to have their picture made with Santa,” Mr. West said. “Then we’ll take them to Walmart, and each one of them will be teamed with a firefighter from the Whitfield County Fire Department. They’ll shop and get to purchase $100 worth of toys each.”
The kids will then be carried back to the fire station, where they’ll enjoy pizza and cake and receive their toys before heading home with their families.
Mr. West emphasized the firefighters want the public to know all the money they give on Sept. 23 will be used to help children.
“We’re not collecting money for the Whitfield County Fire Department,” he said. “We want people to know that we’re not out there in those intersections collecting money to buy equipment for us. We’re there for a cause, and that cause is to help kids.”
While the Shriners help children with various ailments, the fire department has requested that donations collected this weekend go for the care of young burn victims.
“Nothing against traumatic injury,” Mr. West said. “We’re all for helping them, too, but since we’re the fire department, we just decided we want all that money to go towards helping kids that get burned.”