A reminder to give back

For the past week, I have been mailing letters to solicit donations. I wonder what people’s reactions will be when they first read these letters. I imagine many of them will automatically think of the recent fire in Charleston that claimed the lives of nine firefighters, the nation’s deadliest single disaster for firefighters since the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Isn’t it odd that just as we’re asking for donations to help firefighters, these nine heroes died?

We’ll never know why such tragedies happen. But we do know that the families and friends of those who were close to the nine firefighters will never be the same.

I hope that people will view the Fund as a way to help and to give back to those who have sacrificed for us. Perhaps our donation letter will reach people when they are thinking about our nation’s firefighters; maybe some will donate this time around when they have not in the past.

Although we cannot take back what happened that day, perhaps it will make us all appreciate our firefighters who risk their lives every time they walk into a burning building. Perhaps people will give a little more to our firefighters this year just to say, “We support you, we honor you, and we thank you for all that you have done.”