Firefighter donations pouring in at Yakima fire station

Our missionaries are being enlisted to help with this project.  Kathy Doffey, Assistant Mayor for the City of Yakima attended the Selah Stake Council meeting last night to request help from the Church to help organize and package items that have been donated to Yakima Firefighters Association to provide relief for the fire fighters.  We’ve been asked to help with three 3-hour shifts, starting at Noon Thursday 8/27/15 at the Yakima Convention Center.

Our missionaries remember the firefighters and families who have lost everything in their prayers.  Here is a way we can help!

Less than 24 hours after calling on residents to help firefighters attacking the largest wildfire in state history, city of Yakima officials say they’re overwhelmed with donations.

At Fire Station 93 at Englewood and 40th avenues, firefighters reported lines of cars waiting to drop off various items. By midafternoon, an entire bay, normally reserved for a fire truck, was filled with pallets of bottled water, apple bins filled with food and boxes overflowing with snacks.

“It’s reassuring to know there are so many people out there willing to give without expecting anything in return,” city spokesman Randy Beehler said. 

Meanwhile, people have been calling and emailing asking how they can help.

Beehler said a group in Sunnyside also has started collecting donations and plans to deliver them to Yakima by Friday morning.

The Okanogan Complex fires in north-central Washington were about 15 percent contained Tuesday after burning more than 400 square miles, or 258,000 acres. More than 1,300 firefighters and other personnel are fighting the fires.Beehler said the city is still looking for trucks to deliver the goods to the firefighter relief center based at the Tonasket Visitor Center in Omak. He said officials have been in touch with trucking companies and fruit growers about securing one or more 18-wheelers to make the delivery.

“It’s going to depend on the volume,” Beehler said.

The city also is accepting monetary donations in the form of checks only. The checks should be made out to the Yakima Firefighters Association, Beehler said.

Donations of supplies are being accepted at Yakima Fire Station 91, at 401 N. Front St.; and at Station 93 through noon Friday.

Beginning Thursday, donations will be taken to the Yakima Convention Center and will be sorted into individual care bags for firefighters. The city hopes to move the donations up to Omak quickly after the Friday deadline arrives, Beehler said.

“The Yakima community is always generous in times of crisis, so we expected a good response,” Beehler said. “The response we’ve gotten, though, frankly, is overwhelming. It’s amazing just how generous people have been.”

http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/local/firefighter-donations-pouring-in-at-yakima-fire-station/article_dcdec6c8-4bb9-11e5-a5b7-13d83899fe63.html