Firefighters' Boot Drive Begins

Motorists traveling through the Clearwater area might notice some unusual “panhandlers” over the next few days.

The city’s firefighters have announced the kickoff of the annual Fill the Boot Drive. Designed to benefit the Muscular Dystrophy Association, the event features firefighters out in force trying to drum up donations for the cause.

“For more than six decades, firefighters have fueled MDA’s mission to find treatments and cures for life-threatening muscle diseases,” Clearwater Fire Rescue explained in an email to media. “Muscular dystrophy and other related life-threatening diseases take away people’s ability to walk, move, smile, talk and even breathe.”

Money donated to firefighters during this year’s campaign will support such programs as the MDA clinic at St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital in Tampa and St. Anthony’s Neurology in St. Petersburg, the agency noted. Funds also benefit programs, such as the MDA summer camp staged in Brandon each year.

Residents wishing to help out will find firefighters at the following intersections between 4 and 7 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday:

• Memorial Causeway and Island Way
• Court Street and Fort Harrison Avenue
• Chestnut Street and Fort Harrison Avenue
• Keene Road and Gulf-to-Bay Boulevard
• Drew Street and McMullen Booth Road
• Belcher Road and Gulf-to-Bay Boulevard
• Countryside Boulevard and State Road 580
• Keene Road and Sunset Point Road

For more information about the cause, visit MDA online.

Photo of Clearwater Councilwoman Doreen Hock-DiPolito giving to the cause courtesy of Clearwater Fire Rescue.