"Fill the Boot" Campaign is Bountiful Fundraiser for MDA

Firefights take off boots to fundraise for three hours

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By Heather Hintze
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Story Created: Aug 31, 2012 at 7:52 PM AKDT

Story Updated: Aug 31, 2012 at 7:56 PM AKDT

ANCHORAGE - Firefighters were out in full force on Friday panhandling for a good cause.

“Fill the boot! Help fill the boot!” firefighter Richard Ralls shouts over din of traffic along Minnesota.

Dozens of firefighters volunteered three hours of their time to collect money from drivers for “Fill the Boot,” one of the Muscular Dystrophy Association’s biggest fundraisers.

“The money goes to help the kids of Alaska and the adults that have MD. So the money we raise in Alaska stays in Alaska with the exception of money for research which goes outside for grants,” said Tia Conley, the executive director for MDA Alaska.

A good portion of the money goes to sending kids to a week-long summer camp where they can forget about their disabilities.

“It's fun to see them relax and goof around and act like 7-year olds and 11-year-olds and pull pranks on each other and not care that they can't do certain things, because it's tailored around that,” said 15-year old Austin Hardt, who was diagnosed with myotopic muscular dystrophy.

There’s no cure for the disease and staff said it’s important they do what they can to make kids feel like kids.

“These are wonderful kids. Muscular dystrophy affects the muscles. So they're viable people and their brains work perfectly but their muscles start to deteriorate slowly and it's a very painful process and we're doing what we can to find a cure,” said Conley.

While the Fill the Boot campaign only lasted three hours, firefighters said it’s amazing what can be accomplished in such a short period of time.
 

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Akginger said on Saturday, Sep 1 at 9:04 AM

So, you're saying that since they're law enforcement, they can be above the law?? Cause the last time I checked, Panhandling was illegal.

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AKLAdy said on Saturday, Sep 1 at 8:18 AM

The method is genius....its only 3 hours. They werent pedestrians they were firefighters. If you took a minute to watch you would have seen that they dont run into moving traffic. Good thing for you, you can just sit in your car and drop some money in the boot..

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Anonymous said on Friday, Aug 31 at 10:56 PM

The cause is good, the method is lousy. I won't contribute to anything that increases traffic congestion and endangers people by mixing pedestrians with cars. Stupid and needless, there are many other ways to beg for money from the public.

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