Fairfax County's Annual 'Fill the Boot' Campaign for Muscular Dystrophy Starts Friday

The Fairfax County Professional Fire Fighters and Paramedics, in conjunction with the Fairfax County Fire
& Rescue Department, the Fairfax County Department of Public Safety Communications, Greater Washington Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) and Subway Restaurants, will be holding a kick off for the 2014 Labor Day Weekend Fill the Boot collection campaign benefiting the Greater Washington Muscular Dystrophy Association.

• Wednesday, Aug. 27, 12:30 PM
• Fairfax County Fire Station 1
• 1455 Laughlin Avenue
• McLean, VA 22101
• (703) 356-6671

For the past eight of the 30-plus years that they have been collecting, members of the Fairfax County public safety team have consistently been in the top three in the nation for amount collected during the weekend campaign, frequently besting such large cities as Houston, Texas and Los Angeles, California.

During the 2013 Labor Day Weekend campaign, Fairfax County firefighters, mechanics and dispatchers collected over $602,000 for Greater Washington MDA, securing not only the crown for the highest amount collected by any municipality in the US and Canada in 2013, but also the highest amount collected at any time in the 59 year history of Fill the Boot nationwide.

The 2014 campaign will begin on Friday, Aug. 29 and will run through Monday, Sept. 1 at controlled intersections all over Fairfax County and the Town of Clifton. Invited guests include members of Congress, members of Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, members of the Herndon, Vienna and Clifton Town Councils, Fairfax County Professional Fire Fighters and Paramedics President John Niemiec, Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Department Fire Chief Richard Bowers, Fairfax County Police Department Police Chief Edwin Roessler, Fairfax County Department of Public Safety Communications Director Steve Souder and Greater Washington MDA District Director Janice Reardon.

Also in attendance will be families that benefit from the money raised during this campaign, and members of Fairfax County’s public safety family whose collections are remarkable in their own way. The International Association of Fire Fighters is one of the leading contributors to MDA nationwide, donating more than $530 million during its 60-year partnership.

Proceeds raised during the streetside campaign help support MDA services and research programs in the Washington, D.C. area, including MDA’s annual camp for kids affected by neuromuscular disease, outpatient clinics for people with more than 40 neuromuscular diseases at Children’s National Medical Center and Georgetown University Hospital and many other vital programs and services.