Pittsfield Firefighters Donate Christmas Gifts to DCF
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Union members did all of the shopping and wrapping ahead of time.
The firefighters union continued its annual holiday tradition of buying gifts for more than two dozen local children involved with the state Department of Children and Families.
The firefighters had taken the names of 25 children, what they'd like for Christmas, and then headed out to shop for them.
"We take 25 names that are organized by the Department of Children and Families and buy gifts. We get anywhere from clothing to toys for each individual," said Union President Robert Leary.
DCF provides the information to the International Association of Fire Fighters Pittsfield Local 2647 and the Pittsfield Permanent Firemen's Benefit Association and the firefighters do the rest. On Tuesday, the gifts were delivered to DCF's Eagle Street office.
"A group of guys go out and do all of the shopping and then as a group we do all of the wrapping," Leary said.
The gift giving has been a long tradition for the union. Leary sees it as a way to give back to the community.
"This is just one of the things we try to give back to the community through," Leary said. "This is been a yearly thing probably going on close to 20 years now. This has been one of the ones we really tried to stay connected with."
The union is one of a number of organizations that support DCF during Christmas. DCF collects information on sizes and wants from the families they work with and then partner with various organizations in the community to provide them.
Tags: children & families, donations, firefighters, holiday story,
