Cherry Hill Firefighters Sponsor MDA Day Created On
On Saturday, November 9, 2002, Cherry Hill Firefighters hosted MDA Day at the Cherry Hill Fire Department. 15 local families affected by Muscular Dystrophy were in attendance as firefighters put together a full afternoon of fun and activities. Local representatives from MDA were also on hand to help with arts and crafts, and all the organizations involved cooked and served a “Thanksgiving” dinner.
Firefighter Jim Lyons, a member of CHFD Ladder Co. 2 and coordinator for this event, is credited with initiating the idea. “We received so much positive feedback with our ‘Fill The Boot’ fund raiser, we thought this would be a fun and interesting follow-up to help these families who often have a difficult time at our regular Open Houses.” Lyons brought together all the emergency services in Cherry Hill to help out with the program
On hand were not only Fire Department and EMS apparatus & equipment for all to see, but also Cherry Hill Police Officer Seta, and his K-9 partner, “Boz”. Boz’s skills were put to the test as the children hid several objects on fire department grounds, and Boz would search for them. He was a perfect 3 for 3 in finding all the objects.
The CHFD MDA Day wasn’t just about the fun. As all the children did arts & crafts with the MDA representatives, their parents and families were brought in to a classroom for an education on Safety for the Disabled. CHFD Director of Community Education, Battalion Chief Michael Saraceni, and Cherry Hill Twp. Ombudsman for the disabled, Jill Kail, instructed the family members on many topics relating to safety for their children.
Saraceni also laid out the Cherry Hill Fire Department’s plan to identify any disabled resident in Cherry Hill wishing to partake in the program. If that resident were in need of emergency personnel, the responding units could use the GIS program on their laptop computers to better prepare for the emergency at hand, with their special accommodations at the firefighters fingertips. For more information about the fire department’s GIS program, go to our GIS information page.
The afternoon was rounded off with the children squirting a hose from the department’s brush truck, 1379, and then treated to a repelling demonstration by the CHFD Technical Rescue team. After all the activities and classes were done, Cherry Hill firefighters and MDA Representatives gathered everyone together for an early “Thanksgiving” dinner, prepared and served by firefighters.
FF Lyons commented “These kids really had a good time; it was well worth it and a lot of fun for us too!” He also wanted to extend thanks to Shop Rite at Garden State Pavillions for donating the turkeys, and Cacia’s Bakery Cherry Hill for cooking the turkey’s. “Having the help of a strong community like we have here makes these programs easier to pull off”, Lyons added.
At the very end of this special day for these families, they thanked FF Lyons and all the firefighters and MDA representatives. FF Lyons was then told by MDA District Director, Alison Ale, that the money raised by Cherry Hill Firefighters in their “Fill The Boot” fund raiser sent 15 children to MDA summer camp for two weeks. Having that knowledge seals the fact that this will be an annual affair for our firefighters.
For more pictures of MDA Day, visit our Photo Gallery.
All the hardworking firefighters and MDA representatives after a successful program.
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On Saturday, November 9, 2002, Cherry Hill Firefighters hosted MDA Day at the Cherry Hill Fire Department. 15 local families affected by Muscular Dystrophy were in attendance as firefighters put together a full afternoon of fun and activities. Local representatives from MDA were also on hand to help with arts and crafts, and all the organizations involved cooked and served a “Thanksgiving” dinner.
On hand were not only Fire Department and EMS apparatus & equipment for all to see, but also Cherry Hill Police Officer Seta, and his K-9 partner, “Boz”. Boz’s skills were put to the test as the children hid several objects on fire department grounds, and Boz would search for them. He was a perfect 3 for 3 in finding all the objects.
Saraceni also laid out the Cherry Hill Fire Department’s plan to identify any disabled resident in Cherry Hill wishing to partake in the program. If that resident were in need of emergency personnel, the responding units could use the GIS program on their laptop computers to better prepare for the emergency at hand, with their special accommodations at the firefighters fingertips. For more information about the fire department’s GIS program, go to our 
The afternoon was rounded off with the children squirting a hose from the department’s brush truck, 1379, and then treated to a repelling demonstration by the CHFD Technical Rescue team. After all the activities and classes were done, Cherry Hill firefighters and MDA Representatives gathered everyone together for an early “Thanksgiving” dinner, prepared and served by firefighters.