Firefighters will be rolling up to Fire Station #2 on Monday with their tents and cots in hand, ready to kick off their 10th annual muscular dystrophy rooftop campaign.
Over the course of the past nine years, local firefighters have raised just under $400,000, and this year they aim to raise another $40,000.
Starting on Monday, a rotating shift of firefighters will spend four days waving residents onto the pad of Fire Station #2 and collecting donations for muscular dystrophy. By night, armed with ear plugs, they aim to catch a few winks of sleep in tents pitched on the station’s roof.
Kyle Nobles, who has been with the St. Albert department for six years, said the campaign is “such a great cause” and everyone really buys into it.
“The nights can be a little loud; we’ve kind of figured out over the years earplugs are a must because we’ve had a couple of windy years where we thought we were going to lose the tent while we were in it,” he laughed.
Out of the past three years, firefighters at the department have twice been named Muscular Dystrophy Canada’s Alberta Firefighter of the Year, for all the work they do fundraising.
Members will be camping out at Fire Station #2 from March 2 to 5, and that is just one event in a list of events the department has initiated.
While some other departments simply do the campout, Nobles said St. Albert really goes all out, with a boot drive, a night of waiting tables at East Side Mario’s (Feb. 27, 5 to 9 p.m.) and a virtual auction that will be live throughout March.
Last year, the department also began hosting a wrap-up party for the campaign, and this year it will be held March 13 at the Jensen Lakes Canadian Brewhouse at 7 p.m.
Nobles said the camaraderie is one of his favourite parts of the campaign, but more than anything, it is seeing local kids with muscular dystrophy come out and their “pure excitement.”
“If I'm feeling bad because I've been on my feet for the last four days and a kid with muscular dystrophy comes up, it changes everything for me; it's just, you realize, why am I complaining?” he said. “Look at the stuff they deal with, and they've got a big smile on their face and are just super excited.”
The rooftop campout will kick off with a ribbon cutting ceremony March 2 at 9 a.m. at Fire Station #2 (100 Boudreau Road), and the online auction can be found at: https://firefightersformd.com
