The National Fallen Firefighters Foundation (NFFF) is currently seeking interested individuals to help raise funds online for its many programs.
The NFFF was created by the U.S. Congress in 1992. The Foundation is a nationally recognized non-profit dedicated to honoring the sacrifice of firefighters who die in the line of duty, assisting their families, and delivering programs reduce preventable line-of-duty deaths and injuries.
When you choose to support the Foundation, you help to honor and remember America’s fallen fire heroes and assist their families. And, you will join the ranks of supporters like Calvin Waters!
Calvin started fundraising for the Foundation as a golf tournament coordinator in 2017, in South Carolina, and continued to host his tournament after he moved to Mississippi. He is also the coordinator for the Gamers for the Fallen online gaming group, which uses Twitch as a streaming service and asks for donations to the NFFF.
What motivates you to raise money for the Foundation?
My co-coordinator, Jordan Stoudt, and I are both career firemen and have both dealt with a line-of-duty death (LODD) firsthand. We have seen the amount of planning, coordination and time that goes into a LODD. We want to make sure our brothers and sisters families have the resources needed to get them through the hardest part in their life.
Describe, in your own terms, the voids the Foundation fills when it comes to LODDs.
The Foundation is a shoulder to lean on, not only financially, but also psychologically. Knowing someone is there in your time of need is a nourishment everyone needs, and the Foundation does it in a way that makes you feel whole again. Questions are asked such as: Where will I go from here? How will we make do without a second salary? Will I ever be normal again? Why him? These are very tough questions that the NFFF must be prepared to answer and they very much so are. One of the toughest things in life is losing your loved one and not having guidance on where to go, especially when you add children into the picture. The NFFF is the heartbeat to LODDs and despite a devastating loss, they are the shoulder to lean on to get going into the right direction again.
In your mind, aside from service to the survivors of LODDs, what is the Foundation’s most pressing work, and why?
The Everyone Goes Home® program, Be A Hero, Save A Hero®, and the First Responder Center for Excellence (FRCE) are all programs that help prevent future line-of-duty deaths. Although the entire NFFF organization exists to help those in tragedy, we want nothing more than to drastically lower the amount of fallen firefighters.
If you would like to be an Everyday Hero like Calvin, it’s easy. You can start your own online fundraiser for the NFFF in three easy steps by visiting weekend.firehero.org/donate/fundraising/start-a-fundraiser/. There, you can write a personal message about why the Foundation is important to you. There are also options to share your fundraiser on Facebook, Twitter and via E-mail.
With your support, the Foundation can continue to provide such services as:
- Scholarships and job training for spouses, life partners, children, and stepchildren of fallen firefighters.
- Immediate support to fire departments and agencies after a line-of-duty death through our Local Assistance State Team program.
- Assistance to our Everyone Goes Home® program, which works to prevent firefighter line-of-duty deaths and injuries.
