El Paso Fire Department kicks off ‘Fill the Boot’ campaign

In the coming days, El Paso firefighters will take over intersections through out the city.

The El Paso Fire Department is taking part in its annual ‘Fill the Boot’ campaign to benefit the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

A ceremony Thursday at Station 11 in downtown El Paso kicked off the fundraiser.

Northwestern Mutual, a life insurance and financial services company, presented MDA with a check for $5,000.

EPFD and MDA have partnered for more than 60 years to help local families with loved ones living with progressive muscle diseases.

“El Paso firefighters and MDA go together like peanut butter and jelly,” said James Younger, 1st Vice President of the El Paso Association of Firefighters.

“A large portion of money that we collect in El Paso stays in El Paso.”

Seventy-five cents of every dollar collected funds the local chapter, MDA Rio Grande.

MDA Rio Grande helps families find support services, locating and repairing critically needed medical equipment and sponsor week-long summer camps for children affected by a disease.

EPFD asks motorists to look out for the firefighters and drive with caution since they will be at many of the city’s busy intersections.

Younger said the fire department is protected by state law to “panhandle from the citizens of El Paso to collect for a very worthy cause.”