Cal Fire Battalion 13 "FILL THE BOOT" fundraiser at intersection of Haun & Newport

Raising funds for the Muscular Dystrophy Association, Cal Fire Battalion 13, along with other local volunteers are manning the corners with Boots in hand... running to honking cars wanting to give.
Shawn Rhoads works at Kohl's and takes part in the Community Volunteer Program "Kohl's Cares". "I missed the last FILL THE BOOT... but I wasn't going to miss this one." According to Jesse Crete, the fundraising coordinator the the MDA, 4 other Kohl's employees are out on the corners today as well.


James Fladebo (pictured here with Andrew Peterson) was telling me that yesterday one of the drivers didn't fully stop, so he had to jog along with the car until the "giver" on the passenger side could get their money into the boot. (These two guys are REAL Troopers!!)

Volunteer Andrew Peterson accepting donation from local resident.

Information received from Crete shows where your donations go:

- 76 percent of every dollar MDA spends goes directly to research, services and education.

- MDA spends $74 a minute in its worldwide Research program, supporting more than 330 projects.

-MDA spends $46 a minute in its Professional and Public Health Education program, including publications, web sites and research conferences.

- MDA maintains more than 200 hospital-affiliated clinics, including more than 35 MDA/ALS centers.

-MDA clinics are staffed by teams of top health professionals skilled int he diagnosis and medical managment of neuromuscular diseases. Services provided at MDA clinics may include occupational therapy, selected diagnostic tests, genetic counseling, respiratory therapy and more

- MDA annual sponsors some 80 week long summer camp sessions, serving more than 4,000 children (ages 6-17) across the country and in Puerto Rico. Over 5,200 volunteers give a week of their time to serve as MDA camp counselors.

- MDA's 'equipment loan program' provides help obtaining durable medical equipment of all types.

For more information, go to: www.mdausa.org

You want to feel good today? Then pull out those dollars, honk your horn, and FILL THOSE BOOTS!

No matter how small ... "giving" FEELS GOOD. And that, I think, is one of the things meant when St. Francis of Assisi said, “For it is in giving that we receive.”