Fire Critic An Unadulterated View of the Fire Service
Nice work Long Branch Professional Firefighters Association- FMBA Local 68
Over the past month the members of Local 68 have been working on a project to design and remodel a room at the Ronald McDonald House of Long Branch. Utilizing funds from our Community Trust, we took on the project in hopes to make it easier on the children and their families while being treated at Monmouth Medical Center. The Ronald McDonald House organization does so much for the community by offering a welcoming, supportive environment for families of seriously ill children during a very stressful time. They provide quiet, private rooms with many amenities to help these families remain strong during the course of treatment. Local 68 would like to thank with gratitude all of the following donating contributors who helped complete this project: Bob Farrell – Fire Hooks Unlimited; Joe Marchese – Atlantic Plumbing Supply; Paul Sgro – Lees Garage; Gaetano Petrone Don Colarusso – All Hands Fire Equipment; Joanne Cattelona; Wallace Borba – Borba Tile & Hardwood Floors; Loretta Caffola; Mark Rosetti – Demonracer2 Fire Photography
Firefighters in Long Branch came together to work on a project at the Ronald McDonald House to help make a difficult time in a child’s life a little brighter.
Each one of the bedrooms for children and their families at the Ronald McDonald House in Long Branch sports a different theme. Months of planning and three weeks of building transformed one of the bedrooms into an exact replica of a firehouse.
“They came together as a team. (They) worked together on their time off, not a day that that doorbell wasn’t rung and they weren’t coming in to do something,” Ronald McDonald Executive Director Susan Collin said.
More about the F.M.B.A. Local #68
Professional Firefighters Community Trust
P.O. Box 2292
Long Branch, NJ 07740
Firemen’s Mutual Benevolent Association Local #68 Community Trust Fund was established by the members of Local 68 in October 2002 as a non-profit 501 (c) 3 organization. We raise money for various community based charities, sports organizations and education scholarships. We have raised money in the past through golf outings and cigar dinners. In addition to supporting several sports teams in Long Branch, the community trust fund has awarded over $5,000 in scholarship money to graduating Long Branch High School Seniors.
We have donated not only monetary funds, but food as well to the local food bank during the holiday season and to the local St. Vincent DePaul Society totaling over $6,000. We also purchase dinner for 250 local needy families for Easter, Thanksgiving & Christmas through an area food bank. During the months of October through December we conduct a non perishable food drive at both of our manned fire stations. Residents can drop off canned goods from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm 7 days a week and all of the proceeds go to the area food banks.
In 2013 we donated $2,000 to Monmouth Medicals Jacqueline Wilentz cancer center and hoping to beat that number in 2014, we are in the process now of selling shirts. Youth sporting teams and underprivileged children who cannot afford to play local sports are also assisted. These donations are made possible through the hard work of our new mailer that you may have just received, our cigar dinner committee and the generous support of those who attend these events, Our appreciation cannot be overstated. We are not part of the Long Branch Fire Department Fund Drive, we are the Labor organization of the Career Firefighter in the City of Long Branch.
In the past five years alone, we have donated well over $100,000 dollars!
