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Firefighter Fundraiser for Rising Sun Fire Brigade

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NEWS UPDATE 9/21/2019:  WFMZ 69 will be running the story on the fundraiser tomorrow on Sunday night news instead at 6PM, for anyone wanting to check it out. Hoping to have that help us reach our goal!

UPDATE 9/20/2019:   
It's been completely humbling to see the positive response, sharing, donations, and involvement related to this fundraiser, thank you all for your support of the Rising Sun Fire Brigade!  This has been the brightest spot in my last two weeks of dealing with the fire and aftermath of putting my life back together after losing virtually everything besides the clothes on my back, along with our sweet fur-baby Marshall.  We've received donations for the fire departments from friends, family, neighbors, employees, business partners, and numerous good Samaritans!  This fundraiser has been shared almost 3,000 times, and donations have poured in from numerous states across the country!  I’ve spoken to some of the firefighters, and they are humbled by the response, and extremely appreciative of all of the support you’ve given them with this campaign.  After launching this, I was made aware that I missed a couple of fire departments that were significantly involved with the fire, and which are therefore a part of the Rising Sun Fire Brigade.  Those are Bushkill Township Volunteer Fire Company and Hanover Township Volunteer Fire Company, which I’d like to recognize here and thank for their service.  I am adding these two fire departments to the list below, to have funds equally dispersed among them as well.  WFMZ 69 News will be running a story on the fundraiser on the Weekend Edition, tomorrow at 6PM, and possibly again at 10PM.  With the additional press, I’d like to take the opportunity to grow the fundraiser to a new goal of $15,000.  It is significant, and would provide the nine fire departments over $1,600 in donations each.  You have all done a lot already, and I’d like to again challenge you continue to share this if you’ve donated, and donate if you’ve thought about it but haven’t.   Thank you very much for your continued support!

Original:
As many of you know, our home burned down this past week on Tuesday, September 10th.  Our pup Marshall was the only one home, and unfortunately he lost his life in the fire.  This was despite the heroic efforts of some of our neighbors who ran into the home multiple times to try to save him, a few good Samaritans who assisted in doing the same, and the firemen from nine* brigades who valiantly fought off the flames of the burning inferno shooting off the roofline as high as the house itself.  Watching the fire helplessly, knowing it had taken Marshall’s life was one of the most devastating events of my life.  The rest of what was lost was mostly just stuff, but Marshall was a sweet timid little pup who made people earn his trust, and loved everyone once they did.  He would have surely loved all of the firefighters who risked their lives and safety that day. 


A lot of individuals have asked us what they can do for us.  I learned as a child to only take what I need, and fortunately I’m not in a position of need.  Surely, there are things I’ve lost, and some of which are irreplaceable, but insurance will cover most of them, and the rest I can live without.  However, with so many reaching out to try to assist, I’ve spent some time thinking about what I can do with all of this goodwill being offered, and I’ve decided to launch this fundraiser for the fire departments which so courageously fought this burning inferno. 


This truly was a team effort, which I unfortunately have witnessed a few times on our street since moving here ten years ago.  As Upper Nazareth and many of the other townships nearby do not have public water, these fireman depend on a well-rehearsed and perfectly executed game plan to fight fires.  The first fire trucks on scene immediately setup hoses, and start fighting the fire.  The following few trucks setup a water retention container, and connect their trucks to the lead trucks to utilize as a sequence of pumps to get the water to the lead trucks.  Finally all other trucks have turns fetching water and filling up the water retention container, so that the pump and lead trucks can use that water to shoot down the fire.  I’m sure they have more technical lingo for all of this, but this was an impressive sight to behold even given the circumstances.  I’m forever grateful for the courageous efforts of these individuals, who are all volunteers including the Fire Chiefs themselves.  The nine* fire brigades which fought this fire were the following.

The “Rising Sun Fire Brigade”:
1) Upper Nazareth Fire Department
2) Nazareth Fire Department
3) Hecktown Fire Department
4) Palmer Fire Department
5) Bath Fire Department
6) East Allen Fire Department
7) Northampton Fire Department
8) Bushkill Township Volunteer Fire Company*
9) Hanover Township Volunteer Fire Company*

The funds raised from this fundraiser will be equally distributed among all nine* fire departments to provide for any tools, training, maintenance, or other expenses required to maintain their public service.   The goal for this fundraiser is $7,000, in the hopes of raising at least $1,000 per fire department.  Please share this with your friends and family so that we can meet and exceed this goal.  I will start the donation by donating the $700 which was provided by our Ideal Concepts team.  The intent of that gift was to assist us with the disaster, but I know they will appreciate that this gift will instead go to help those that help others.


Rising Sun Fire Brigade has shown up far too many times on our little street, hopefully this is the last time.  But let’s use this occasion as an opportunity to help them assist the next family in need.

* Edited from seven to nine fire departments to add Bushkill Township Volunteer Fire Company and Hanover Township Volunteer Fire Company who were significantly involved in putting out the fire, and who were missed on the initial list of fire departments.
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Donations 

  • John Pequeno
    • $1,700 
    • 4 yrs
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Organizer

John Pequeno
Organizer
Nazareth, PA

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