The 2010 Memorial Weekend was a remarkable event in the history of the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation. There were close to 6,000 people on campus for Sunday's Memorial Service. The reaction from our survivor families has been overwhelming. It is a great inspiration for us as we start to think about the 30th anniversary of the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Weekend in October 2011.
What has become very clear to us at the Foundation is we could not do any of this without the support of the Nation's fire service. The key way we reach out to firefighters and fire chiefs is through the fire service media. This year you have helped us in many new ways to make sure our message is heard.
This past weekend, thanks to you, we more than tripled the number of websites and blogs carrying the live coverage of the Candlelight and Memorial Services. From the name brand publications, to regional blogs, to fire department websites, you helped us honor our fallen heroes by making the telecasts available to more people than ever before.
Each day you are helping us remember a fallen firefighter by having the NFFF Widget embedded in your site. The featured firefighters will continue this week and the NFFF Widget will be a year-round project. We hope you will continue to share this with your readers.
You are also vitally important in helping us raise money to fund Memorial Weekend and to provide the Foundation's varied survivor and prevention programs. We had a wonderful turnout at Dover International Speedway 10-days-ago that raised $93,000. The Daytona-500 in February is our next NASCAR event. Again, we are successful in these efforts because of what you do to help spread the word.
Please take a moment to reflect and be proud of the role you play in honoring fallen firefighters, caring for their survivors and preventing firefighter deaths and injuries. You are truly our partners in these endeavors and for that we are grateful.