Firefighters Raise $568K in 'Fill the Boot'

Fairfax County firefighters and paramedics raised a whopping $568,634.89  during the annual Fill the Boot campaign benefiting the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) over Labor Day Weekend.  That is the most of any group in the country.

Fairfax County Professional Fire Fighters and Paramedics - International Association of Firefighters (IAFF) Local 2068 raised the most ever in its 58-year partnership with MDA, said Joel Kobersteen, IAFF Local 2068 Communications Director and coordinator of the Fairfax County Labor Day Weekend Fill the Boot Campaign.  “This is the third time in six years that we’ve been No. 1,” he said.

Proceeds help support MDA services and research programs in the Washington, D.C. area, including MDA’s annual camp for kids affected by neuromuscular disease and outpatient clinics at Children’s National Medical Center and for people effected by the more than 40 neuromuscular diseases.

Kobersteen said the campaign’s success would not have been possible without the countywide support he and his colleagues received.

“None of this at all would have been possible without the citizens embracing us and embracing the cause,” he said. “You can stand on a street corner all day long, but if the citizens don’t roll down their window, you’re not going to collect a cent.”