San Marcos Fire Fighters Fill the Boot for MDA

San Marcos, CA - Dedicated San Marcos Local 4184 fire fighters will participate in a fundraiser called the “Fill the Boot” to benefit the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) on Friday, August 30. More than 30 San Marcos fire fighters will volunteer their time and brave the heat to help the San Diego chapter of MDA.

San Marcos fire fighters will be in uniform at the intersection of Rancho Santa Fe Road & San Marcos Boulevard this Friday, boots in hand, so that motorists can donate dollars and change to help support MDA. Donations will be accepted 6:00am-2:00pm.

Mike Vasile, Fire Fighter Engineer and Union President for San Marcos Fire Department, is the Fill the Boot organizer. His brother, Cole, is living courageously with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. Mike has always been his brother’s biggest supporter. Rather than asking “why me” and sitting back, Mike has taken matters into his own hands by organizing one of MDA’s biggest and most successful Fill the Boot fundraisers.

When the San Marcos Fire Department Fill the Boot started years ago, there were a few fire fighters that came out to help. Every single year, Mike plans the Fill the Boot and pours more of his heart into it. Now dozens of San Marcos fire fighters come out to support Mike, Cole and the MDA at the Fill the Boot, consistently raising more than $20,000 in a single day. In the months leading up to the Fill the Boot, Mike goes above and beyond the call of duty by mailing letters to local businesses, asking for sponsorship dollars and food donations for the crew the day of the event.

MDA is a non-profit organization that helps children and adults who are affected by any of 40 neuromuscular diseases covered by MDA’s comprehensive medical services and research programs. MDA receives no government funding and charges no fees to those served by the Association therefore, MDA relies on private contributions, and fundraisers such as the fire fighter Fill the Boot to provide services.

The MDA Fill the Boot program started back in 1954, by Butch Snider and Jim Grigsby. Ironically, both Butch and Jim, two Nevada firefighters, succumbed to neuromuscular disease and died early deaths. Over the decades, fire fighters have not only put their lives at stake to save citizens from ruthless flames, but they have given their time to save the lives of the innocent from equally merciless neuromuscular diseases.

MDA is proud to have a great partnership with San Marcos Fire Department. Please take a moment to drop some cash into a boot when you see your area fire fighters out on the street.

For more information, please refer to www.mda.org or visit the MDA San Diego & Imperial Counties Facebook page.