The CFD Breast Cancer Awareness Committee Thanks You

On behalf of the Cinnaminson Fire Department’s Breast Cancer Awareness Committee, I would like to say thank you to everyone for their support with this year’s fundraising efforts. This was our seventh year raising funds for breast cancer awareness, and I am pleased to announce that this was our most successful year yet. Thanks to the support and generosity of our members, families, and wonderful community, we were able to raise $10,000 this year, becoming the most amount of money raised to date. With the money raised, we were able to present $5,000 to the Virtua Breast Care Comfort Fund and $5,000 to the Rebecca A. Scott Memorial Scholarship Fund.

Being able to keep the money raised local has been a priority of the committee since our first year. There are many great charities worldwide that go towards breast cancer awareness and support, but often times, that money will not make it to people that may need it locally. Both funds supported help local people in Burlington County and surrounding areas.

The funds donated to the Virtua Breast Care Comfort Fund help patients obtain items that insurance may not cover. While going through treatments, breast cancer patients can rely on this fund to help them get through their treatments while battling this horrible disease. When the check was presented this year, a local patient that has been able to benefit from the funds raised was present to thank the members and explain how the fund has helped her through her trying time.

The funds donated to the Rebecca A. Scott Memorial Scholarship Fund will help local paramedic students gain scholarships for their training. Partnered with Rowan College at Burlington County, the scholarship fund is helping local paramedic students gain the best training available. This training will help the students as they will soon be responding to emergency incidents to help patients in need. This check was presented to the family of Paramedic Rebecca Scott, who passed away at the age of 28 to breast cancer.

Numerous fundraising events were held this year, with our most successful event again being our annual Dine and Donate at SweetWater Bar and Grill. Other great events included our “Pretty in Paint” night, family movie night, and a trick-or- treat night. Our first annual Family Fun Day was held in September and was a great kick off to the fundraising efforts. At the start of the event, a small ceremony was held where local breast cancer patients, survivors, and family of those lost to this dreaded disease placed custom breast cancer awareness stickers on the
helmets of the firefighters. There wasn't a dry eye in attendance as the brave men and women were able to interact with the firefighters that work so hard every year to raise funds.

At this year’s annual Cinnaminson Day, we were able sell items and interact with some great people. For the second year, the pink tutu firefighter walked around meeting members of the community. Meeting local breast cancer patients and survivors was emotional and reminded us why we put so much effort into raising these funds.

Items sold at our events this year included t-shirts, knit hats, birdhouses, and more. At the end of October, a portion of the remaining shirts and hats were donated to the New Jersey Firemen’s Home for their patients to have. The home is a nursing home that exclusively tends to firefighters. The home is located in Boonton, NJ. Thank you to help from the Burlington County representative to the home, the items were delivered and will be distributed to each patient.

The breast cancer awareness committee put a lot of hard work and time into this year’s efforts, and we are already planning for next year’s fundraising campaign. We know that $10,000 will be hard to top, but the one thing we have learned each year with this is that this great community will help us meet any goal put ahead of us. And for that, we thank you. Thank you to every member of the Cinnaminson Fire Department for your assistance on top of your other commitments to the department and the community. Thank you to our families who continue to support us in so many ways. Thank you, Cinnaminson for being the greatest community when it comes to supporting such a worthy cause. Thank you to everyone for your assistance. Without you all, we could not support these great causes and help so many people.

For more information on our breast cancer fundraising efforts and information on next year’s fundraisers, please visit our website, www.cinnaminsonfire.org. You can also visit our social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram or email us at jclancy@cinnaminsonfire.org.

Respectfully,
Lieutenant James Clancy Jr.
Cinnaminson Fire Department
Breast Cancer Awareness Committee