This Thursday, Hoboken fireman Frank Guzman will lead the charge of his battalion as they hit the streets with boots in hand to raise money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.
The program is called "Fill the Boot," and with the help of communities like Hoboken, firefighters have raised thousands of dollars every year across the country.
This year the it is the firefighters’ goal to best a personal record of nearly $10,000 collected in 1998.
Guzman, a 16-year firehouse veteran, has been involved with the MDA since he joined the force. In 1998, he was selected to be the Hoboken Fire Department’s ambassador to the MDA.
"You are really hooked the first time you work with these kids," said Guzman, who in addition to raising three children of his own and working 24-hour shifts at the firehouse volunteers an abundant amount of his free time organizing this event and participating in a MDA summer camp in Red Bank, N.J. "All those little daily complaints and worries that you might have just drop away when you spend time interacting with these kids. Even though they have serious physical handicaps, they’re still just kids inside that can be full of joy. It really brightens your day when you see that just a little effort and time can really make their day."
All day Thursday, the volunteering firefighters will be positioned on 14th and Park, 14th and Willow, Washington and First and at the PATH and bus terminals accepting any amount of donations.
"While events like this are great for raising funds, they may even be better for raising awareness," said Amiee Shelton, the MDA’s public affairs coordinator for the New York Region, the region that includes Hoboken. "Seeing the firefighters out there volunteering their time makes people think about the MDA and makes the public more apt to go out and volunteer themselves."
The MDA is a voluntary health agency – a dedicated partnership between scientists and concerned citizens aimed at conquering neuromuscular diseases that affect more than a million Americans.
MDA combats neuromuscular diseases through programs of worldwide research, comprehensive medical and community services, and far-reaching professional and public health education. With national headquarters in Tucson, Ariz., MDA has more than 200 offices across the country, operates 230 hospital-affiliated clinics and supports nearly 400 research projects around the world.
MDA supports more research on neuromuscular diseases than any other private sector organization in the world.
Muscular Dystrophy is a group of genetically determined, painless, degenerative muscular diseases that are progressively crippling because muscles are gradually weakened and eventually decay. At present there is no specific cure. The disease can sometimes be arrested temporarily, and not all forms of it are totally disabling.
The word dystrophy means faulty or imperfect nutrition. In muscular dystrophy, the muscles suffer a vital loss of protein, and muscle fibers are replaced gradually by fat and connective tissue until, in the late stages of the disease, the voluntary muscle system becomes virtually useless.
This year, firefighters from Hoboken will be featured live on the 2001 Jerry Lewis MDA telethon, seen by 70 million viewers across the country. The 2001 Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon will air on WWOR-TV UPN9 in Hoboken area during Labor Day weekend, Sept. 2 and 3.
For more information on the "Fill the Boot" campaign please contact Amiee Shelton at (212) 679-6215.