February is always the time of year when a crew of the city’s heartiest emergency rescuers take to the roof for an adventurous fundraiser called the Rooftop Campout in support of muscular dystrophy.
As temperatures reach unseasonably balmy figures and Balzac Billy (the Albertan groundhog weather prognosticator) predicts an early spring, St. Albert’s firefighters are keeping their fingers crossed that they’ll have an easy time on top of Fire Hall No. 2 in a few weeks.
“We’ve been spoiled a little bit,” remarked Jay Howells, remembering that last year started colder but warmed up to about -10 C, still a far cry from the -40 C snaps that they saw in years prior. Regardless of the temperature, the determination of these upstanding individuals – whether they’re at the scene of a car accident or simply looking for community support is always enough to make the public take note.
Before they climb the ladder on the morning of Feb. 21 for their three-day sojourn in the fresh air, they’ll be sending out crews into the community to help rally support and bring in some early donations.
They’ll be at the Inglewood Safeway from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. today and tomorrow as they hold out their boots to collect offerings from the shoppers and passersby. Howells suggested that his colleague Andrew Pearson (see today’s story about how he saved a young boy’s life in Mexico) would likely also join the so-called “Boot Drive” at some point. Those who donate can enter to win a Valentine’s Day gift basket.
On Feb. 18, a team of firefighters will trade in their uniforms for waiter attire as they serve the patrons at East Side Mario’s Restaurant from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. All tips collected will go directly to the MD Rooftop Campaign. The restaurant is located at 615 St. Albert Tr., on the southeast corner of the intersection with Boudreau Road.
All month long, however, there is also an online fundraiser that can be found at www.stalbertfirefighters.com. More items are added as the auction progresses.
This year’s campaign goal is $20,000 to go towards improving the quality of life for people with neuromuscular disorders. This includes purchasing mobility equipment, providing support services and funding research that will one day lead to a cure.
Howells agreed that the previous years' goal of $40,000 was always considered a lowball target, especially since this city has a good reputation for outdoing even larger fire station campouts in Edmonton. The target was dropped this year because of these repressed times.
“With the economy being tight, we don’t want anything too high,” he began, later noting, “I think we’re going to surpass that $20,000. I think we’ll surprise ourselves. That’s one thing that’s spectacular about St. Albert: the community just gets right behind us and they always have, whether it’s for muscular dystrophy or just in our day-to-day jobs.”
People are asked to be aware of the campout when it takes place from Feb. 21 to 24 at Fire Station No. 2 at 100 Boudreau Rd. Road safety is still the priority but honking is encouraged to show people’s support for the participants. Donations can be made by pulling in to the station’s drive-up. Traffic might get slower for the duration.
