Standing in the cold, waving posters and banners, the Moscow Volunteer Fire Department fundraised for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society this Wednesday.
MVFD partnered with Red Star Coffee Company and Tapped – Taphouse & Kitchen for two fundraisers. Red Star gave 30% of their profits to the fire department.
“We get to amuse ourselves for raising money for the society, and so this is just a team fundraiser,” Battalion Chief Dean Walker said. “We do a couple of these and get some team money as well as build some camaraderie and partner with local businesses.”
The money for LLS will send a team to the Columbia Center in Seattle. The Columbia Center stair climb is an annual event that helps to raise money for LLS.
Ethan Ellis and James Schryver are both in the student resident firefighter program. This program allows full-time college students to live in the station and receive training as firefighters.
“I think it’s hugely important because as firefighters, our jobs are to help people and that sometimes looks like running into burning buildings, cutting people out of cars or going on medical goal,” Ellis said. “But I think it should also look like us raising money for different societies or helping people out.”
“I feel like it’s majorly important to raise money for research and everything, especially research for victims and research for cancer patients,” Schryver said. “It’s the work that we’re trying to do to help people out. I mean, that kind of falls within our everyday job, trying to help people every way that we can.”
Volunteer Brett Case has previously participated in the climb.
“It’s surreal. It is one of the most amazing things because you see everybody that has the same purpose, the same goal,” Case said. “It’s one of the most amazing things you can do in person.”
Andrew Sibley is excited to be able to participate this time around.
“I’ve actually never done the stair climb,” Sibley said. “The first year I was supposed to do it there was COVID, so they canceled it and did it virtually, but I hope this year that we’re able to climb.”
Both Sibley and Case spoke about how important fundraising for LLS is for them as they have personal connections.
“This is kind of a cause that’s pretty close to me as I had a friend who passed away from it in high school,” Sibley said. “I feel like I’m doing this in remembrance of him. I feel like it’s a good way to honor his memory.”
“I’ve actually had family members that have been diagnosed with leukemia, and we lost one of them, one of my family members, to leukemia,” Case said. “So doing this event is just one more piece that I could do to help other people out in the future and hopefully that they don’t have to go through that battle.”
Visit this page to donate money to LLS on behalf of the MVFD. The Columbia Center climb is set for March 13, 2022.
Daniel V. Ramirez can be reached at [email protected] or Twitter @DVR_Tweets