52 Club Growing Like … Wildfire

           

The 52 Club, launched last March by the Wildland Firefighter Foundation to help raise funds for the survivors of fallen wildland firefighters, is going strong with about 1,200 members signed up at the end of October.

The concept of the club is simple: “Give a buddy a buck a week to go toward making sure we're there to help the next time there is a fatality,” said Melissa Schwagerl, executive assistant of the foundation in Boise, Idaho.

It's all about the power of one. Almost everyone can afford to give a dollar. Members get a patch, a pin and a helmet sticker. Wildland crews that have 75% 52 Club membership are on the club's “gold” list, and there's healthy competition heating up among crews, Schwagerl said. Businesses that recruit 75% of their employees can also be placed on the gold list.

Communities affected by wildland fires are also showing their gratitude to firefighters by signing up.

“This summer we had a community in Colorado that had a fire, and everyone in the community donated to make sure all the firefighters who worked on that fire got a 52 Club membership,” Schwagerl said. “That helped our membership jump by about 100.”

Many people are joining to honor the memory of a fallen firefighter who was close to them. “It gives those firefighters and families and friends a way to feel like they can do something to help when they lose a comrade or a family member,” Schwagerl said.

The Wildland Firefighter Foundation is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that was established shortly after 1994's Storm King Mountain tragedy. It established and maintains the Wildland Firefighters National Monument at the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise. The foundation also provides emergency support services to the families of injured and fallen firefighters. Last year the foundation gave more than $72,000 in emergency grants to families.

For more information on the 52 Club and the Wildland Firefighter Foundation, visit www.wffoundation.org or call 208-336-2996.