Firefighters kindly donate sweat, skills
When members of the Sandpoint Fire Department stepped forward last year to donate hours – which translated into days – of their personal time to benefit local charities, members of this community were extremely grateful.
Marilyn Sabella, the founder of Holly Eve, an annual event which raises funds for several nonprofit agencies, said she was appreciative of the generosity the local fire department showed when she approached them for auction items.
“Initially, I’d just asked for the work day (to be auctioned), but they also came up with additional auction items, including one of the Sandpoint Fire Department’s original leather fire helmets and a birthday party in the fire station, complete with a birthday cake that the firemen bake themselves,” said Sabella.
At Holly Eve, one of the items auctioned off was six firefighters working two full days at the winning bidder’s home – a total of 96 hours – on a project of the bidder’s choice.
My husband and I were the ones who won this item, and I have to say it was worth every penny.
The men worked hard excavating and preparing an area for our new outdoor patio and fire pit. They worked as a team and took pride doing a good job, knowing the money they raised was helping those in need.
But it wasn’t just at Holly Eve these men volunteered to donate their services. They had done so earlier last fall when Ponderay Rotary hosted A Night To Remember wine-tasting event to benefit Community Cancer Services, which supports cancer patients and their families financially and emotionally.
Firefighter Glen Cassidy was asked to organize the firefighters’ donation since his dad was fighting cancer. The men decided to donate a handyman basket, complete with work performed by six firefighters. As the bidding escalated, the men decided they would perform the task for the two highest bidders.
“We thought what a great way to make more money for the cancer services,” said Cassidy.
Steve and Julie Meyer were one of the two high bidders and certainly received their money’s worth, a total of 16 hours landscaping their lakefront home.
“We had an ambitious landscaping plan for our backyard. The firefighters all contributed their skills and manpower to help accomplish the effort,” said Steve. “In two days, they helped us accomplish what would have easily taken a smaller crew at least a week to accomplish.”
Stefanie Nostdahl, president of Community Cancer Services, said, “It’s extremely important in a small community to be able to pull together and reach out to help those in need. We feel so honored to have people like the firemen to help the many nonprofits in our area – and especially at Community Cancer Services where our list of clients is escalating.”
Cassidy said all the men have side jobs to supplement their income and they gave up their days off to give back to the community.
“Although we are first trained to fight fires, our overall goal is to serve our community,” said Cassidy, who said he has received a lot of great feedback about things they have done to help people in and around Sandpoint. “We raised money for some very important services in our community.”
While this volunteer work is done during the time when these men could be working at their other jobs or spending time with their families, Cassidy said, it goes along with being a firefighter.
“It (helping the community) is our responsibility when we sign up to be firefighters,” said Cassidy. “It’s full time.”