JANUARY 7, 2015
Rural/Metro 2014 holiday toy drive a success
Every year firefighters from Rural/Metro host a toy drive to benefit the Foothills Food Bank, Black Mountain Baptist Church, and the Weldon House. This year, under the direction of Captain Kevin Eden from Cave Creek, crews collected a record amount of donations and cash. For a month firefighters from both Rural/Metro fire stations in Carefree and Cave Creek held collection events at the local Walmart. This year’s toy collections almost doubled that of previous years; additionally, the $2,200 in donated cash went to support those in need during the holidays.
“We are very excited that, not only did we receive so many great toys, we also saw an unexpected increase in cash donations. It is a testament that the citizens in this area care about one another and are willing to open up their wallets this time of year.” Rural/Metro Fire Chief John Kraetz went on to say, “This is our community at its best, we are grateful for the huge increase in donations and are equally proud to make the donation to the Foothills Food Bank on behalf of the people that choose to live in this area.”
This year Rural/Metro personnel, many of whom chose to participate on their off time, enlisted the help of the department’s antique “parade truck” at the collection event. Captain Kevin Eden from Station 825 in Cave Creek said after the toys were turned over to the food bank, “It was a surprise to us how many people were drawn to the antique truck. We must have taken hundreds of photos of kids on the truck; we know it contributed to the additional donations this year.” Captain Eden added, “The Rural/Metro guys up here are amazing; this toy drive takes a lot of time and effort. Off duty firefighters volunteered to attend the events so that the on duty crews could to respond to community emergencies.”
