by ARI PAUL
For some firefighters, it was an opportunity to advocate for a good cause. For Capt. Peter Kearney of the Fire Department's 3rd Division, it was a little more personal.
Standing in the rain in Times Square by a fire truck July 19, while holding a boot and using as an umbrella his sign asking people to donate to the Muscular Dystrophy Association, Captain Kearney's thoughts were with his 4-year-old son, Kevin, who is afflicted by the disease. At age 7, Kevin will need a walker, and by 11 he will require a wheelchair. What happens when Kevin reaches his 20s is unknown.
'People Have Big Hearts'
Joined by his union brethren, Captain Kearney was pleased to see the eagerness of tourists and residents to fill his boot with money that would go towards researching a cure.
"I think New Yorkers have a big heart," he said.
The International Association of Firefighters has worked to raise money for the MDA since 1952, and for the second year in a row, the Uniformed Firefighters Association and the Uniformed Fire Officers Association have teamed up to raise money for the MDA in New York in a campaign called "Fill the Boot." For the next three Thursdays from 3 p.m to 8 p.m., off-duty firefighters will be at Times Square and outside Penn Station by fire trucks with boots to fill.
In more than a half-century of partnership, the IAFF has raised $250 million for the MDA, said association spokeswoman Michele Galioto. And while IAFF members around the country will stand on street corners asking pedestrians to give money this summer, it was the UFA and UFOA that requested last year that all firefighters donate one dollar for every meal they have in the firehouse during the month of February.
Raised $45G in '06
In February of 2006, firefighters raised $32,000 for the MDA doing this, according to Lieut. James J. McGowan, the financial secretary of the UFOA. Last year's "Fill the Boot," which lasted two days in Times Square, collected $13,000, according to the UFA.
The unions anticipate having 100 firefighters volunteer at each event. They will be in Times Square on Aug. 2 and outside Penn Station on July 26 and Aug. 9. While the fundraising is a union project, the Fire Department will provide fire trucks for the events, Lieutenant McGowan noted.
Actor/comedian Jerry Lewis helped establish the MDA and is its national chairman.
'Giving Something Back'
Captain Kearney was happy, but not necessarily surprised, to find a few dollar bills at the bottom of his boot in the first few minutes of campaigning. He believed that the unions' success in raising money for the MDA was proof of New Yorkers' appreciation for firefighters and that it disproved the stereotype that New Yorkers are insensitive and uncaring.
"They know we're here for them," Captain Kearney said as a man bolted through the crowd to drop a dollar in the boot. "I think this is a way New Yorkers give us something back."
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