Photo: Grande Prairie Firefighters Charitable Foundations

By Shane Clausing

Community

Grande Prairie Firefighters Charitable Foundation raises over $60,000 in 2021

Feb 23, 2022 | 12:25 PM

The Grande Prairie Firefighters Charitable Foundation says they were able to raise over $60,000 in 2021 to give back to those in need in the community.

The year saw the organization able to host more events compared to 2020, as COVID-19 restrictions did not have as big of an impact on fundraising efforts.

A spokesperson for the Grande Prairie Firefighters Charitable Foundation Justin Davidson says 100 per cent of the money raised goes right back into the community.

“We did donate $10,000 between the catholic and public school divisions,” he explained. “Next year, we’re looking into including the Peace Wapiti School Division (and more).”

The money given to the schools goes towards meal programs for students whose families are in need.

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Davidson tells EverythingGP the rest of the money raised goes towards helping families who might need to travel to places like Edmonton to Calgary to get their children the medical care that they need.

“We take on a bunch of individual family requests such as families that need to take time off who have to go to the Stollery in Edmonton and have to stay in Edmonton for months at a time,” he said. “We generally help them with gift cards for food or fuel or cover their hotel expenses if they need,” explained Davidson.

“A lot of these are donations to GoFundMe accounts for local families, which is an easy route to get our money to the families quicker. That’s generally (where) most of our donations (go towards) throughout the year.”

This past year, the Grande Prairie Firefighters Association was able to complete their annual golf tournament, which raised nearly $45,000.

With COVID-19 restrictions likely going to be lifted heading into the spring and summer, Davidson is hopeful they will be able to raise more money to help more people in need.

“If we raise more then we can help more. We can give back more to families that are reaching out to us and we can then give more to the schools as well.”

You can learn more about the Grande Prairie Charitable Firefighter Foundation by visiting their Facebook page.