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The annual Fill the Boot campaign held by members of the International Association of Firefighters locals in Berkshire County raised $7,021.
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Members of International Association of Firefighters Local 2647 raised $3,043 to donate to the Muscular Dystrophy Association of Massachusetts.
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North Adams raised $3,978 for the MDA. Posing with Wiliams

Pittsfield, North Adams Firefighter Unions Raises $7K For Muscular Dystrophy

By Andy McKeeveriBerkshires Staff
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MDA honored Elmer Gage with a plaque for running the fundraiser for the last 25 years, passing it on this year after his retirement. 

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Between Pittsfield and North Adams fire associations, $7,021 was raised for the Muscular Dystrophy Association during the annual Fill the Boot drive.

Some 25 members of the International Association of Firefighters Local 2647 in Pittsfield spent four hours last Saturday asking for change from people exiting Dunkin' Donuts or the Donut Man in Pittsfield to raise the money. The effort is an annual drive to support IAFF's charity of choice.
 
"We stand at the entrances of all of the drive throughs of Dunkin' Donuts in Pittsfield and the Donut Man and collect people's change from the drive through. At the end of it I had $2,747 in bills and 40.7 pounds of change," said Jim Health.
 
The donation was celebrated Friday with the passing of $3,043 to the Massachusetts MDA. It will go toward sending the children to summer camps, fund research, and support families. Pittsfield Fire Department has joined some 130 departments across the state to contribute to the Massachusetts MDA.
 
"It is probably around half of what we raise altogether [statewide]. It is a big portion of what we raise and it is very important for what they bring it. It allows us to concentrate on making sure the research money is there and the clinics we fund are there for the families and of course the MD summer camps kids go to," said William Southall, fundraising coordinator for MDA. "It is about $2,000 per child to send them to MD summer camp which MDA 100 percent funds."
 
The North Adams union also held its own drive, raising nearly $1,000 more than Pittsfield. IAFF Local 1781 collected $3,978 in donations on Saturday, Oct. 1, at the Main and Marshall intersection.
 
"In four hours, we made almost $4,000," said Robert Patenaude, who's been organizing the drive for about nine years. He believes it may be the largest campaign drive in some years.

No one's sure when North Adams began a Fill the Boot campaign, but Patenaude said his father had been involved when he was in the department — and that was 30 years ago. The union has also tried other intersections in the past, and at Relay for Life. The boot often appears when the department's vintage Mack fire truck is on display as well.
 
"You've got to thank NBT Bank of North Adams because I go over there with a bucket of $650 in change and they let me convert it all to cash and they waive all the fees," he said. "We had a couple people give scratch tickets."

Travys Rivers has been volunteering for nearly as long, missing only one campaign — held on his wedding day — since joining the department in 2008. For Rivers, the campaign is more personal because Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, a peripheral nerve disorder, runs in his family.

"Up until a couple years a lot of people didn't know what it was," he said, and although it is not life-threatening, it can cause weakness and loss of sensation in hands and feet. That's why he supports MDA Masssachusetts.

"It's one of the few charities where all the money goes to muscle disease," he said.

Southall said there are 43 types of muscle degenerative diseases, including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gherig's disease, that got so much attention with the bucket challenge a couple years go.

MDA is funding more than a 150 research projects, and Southall said one minute of research time is about $72.

"It's great to fund a camp or other things but research is what's going to find a cure," he said.
 
For Pittsfield, the work of the MDA also hits home. 
 
"We have a personal connection because we have a recently retired deputy chief who is suffering from ALS," Health said. 
 
This is the first year Health took over running the annual program. Retired Lt. Elmer Gage had run the program for 25 years and while still active in the fundraising efforts, passed on heading the project to Heath. Gage, however, was recognized with a plaque for his long-time service to the annual drive. 
 
"It is good to be recognized but it isn't that important. It is all about the cause,"  Gage said. 
 
Not only had Gage run the Fill the Boot but he had used to run auctions and drink tastings to raise money and has gone to help out at the camps themselves.
 
"I like taking part in charitable things. I've run a team for the American Cancer Society in the walk for life. I've been involved in blood drives and things like that," Gage said of his involvement with MDA.
 
The partnership between IAFF and MDA dates back to 1954 when a Boston firefighter's two sons were diagnosed with muscular diseases. He rallied his collegues for a fundraising drive. The next year, IAFF picked MDA to be the chairity of choise nationwide.
 
"We've managed to raise, as of two years ago, $585.5 million for MDA causes," Health said. 
 
Southall said it isn't just the Fill the Boot campaign but firefighters across the nation hold softball and hockey tournaments and other fundraisers to help the cause. All of the money raised in Massachusetts will stay in Massachusetts, Southall said, and so far the organization has raised a total of $960,000.
 
"We're getting there. We are almost at the $1 million mark and that has been the big goal. A lot of the research and what has been done is thankful for the long-running relationship with firefighters. They are our longest running partner and IFF and firefighters have committed to raising funds until cures are found," Southall said. "It all adds up from from $3,200 that Pittsfield Fire did to departments that raise $10,000, every amount adds up and goes a long way."

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Pittsfield CPA Committee Funds Half of FY24 Requests

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A few projects are not getting funded by the Community Preservation Committee because of a tight budget.

The projects not making the cut were in the historic preservation and open space and recreation categories and though they were seen as interesting and valuable projects, the urgency was not prevalent enough for this cycle.

"It's a tough year," Chair Danielle Steinmann said.

The panel made its recommendations on Monday after several meetings of presentations from applications. They will advance to the City Council for final approval.  

Two cemetery projects were scored low by the committee and not funded: A $9,500 request from the city for fencing at the West Part Cemetery as outlined in a preservation plan created in 2021 and a $39,500 request from the St. Joseph Cemetery Commission for tombstone restorations.

"I feel personally that they could be pushed back a year," Elizabeth Herland said. "And I think they're both good projects but they don't have the urgency."

It was also decided that George B. Crane Memorial Center's $73,465 application for the creation of a recreational space would not be funded. Herland said the main reason she scored the project low was because it didn't appear to benefit the larger community as much as other projects do.

There was conversation about not funding The Christian Center's $34,100 request for heating system repairs but the committee ended up voting to give it $21,341 when monies were left over.

The total funding request was more than $1.6 million for FY24 and with a budget of $808,547, only about half could be funded. The panel allocated all of the available monies, breaking down into $107,206 for open space and recreation, $276,341 for historic preservation, and $425,000 for community housing.

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