Honored at the Friends of Firefighters Annual Gala

This past weekend was the 6th Annual Friends of Firefighters Gala in New York City. What is Friends of Firefighters? We'd love to tell you about this awesome organization and how TheFireStore plays a small part.

According to their website, "Friends of Firefighters, Inc. (FoF) is a New York City not-for-profit corporation that began as a community-based group in response to the events of September 11, 2001.

Thousands of active and retired firefighters responded to the alarm and 343 members of the Fire Department of New York (FDNY) perished in the collapse of the World Trade Center towers on September 11, 2001. Friends of Firefighters was born within days of this catastrophic event through the performance of several unobtrusive acts of kindness offered by the local community. These ranged from making dinners for exhausted rescue workers, to coordinating and facilitating “behind the scenes” in a variety of ways for funerals and memorials, to sitting and listening to firefighters talk over a cup of coffee.

Friends of Firefighters was born out of necessity after the 9/11 attacks.  Offering therapeutic and mental health resources to active and retired firefighters and their families in the days following, we quickly realized this issue would need to be addressed for years to come.  Over the past 12 years, Friends of Firefighters has expanded to meet the growing needs of the FDNY community.

The organization offers confidential, individual, marriage, and family counseling, peer support programs, yoga, acupuncture, massage therapy, training in the Biofeedback Pod, financial and budget guidance, disaster relief, and referrals to many other resources."

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Isn't that awesome?

In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, firefighters needed help---and Friends of Firefighters was there yet again. Over 700 active FDNY members and more than 1,200 FDNY retirees were affected by the hurricane.

One of our own, from TheFireStore, Jay Abel who learned about the organization from ABC's, Secret Millionair, felt called to action. He spent many weekends helping the after effects of the hurricane--organizing groups with many of our local firefighters and companies. They volunteered their own hours and time to help others and this awesome organization. TheFireStore donated many tools and supplies to be used to do so. Friends of Firefighters honored both Jay Abel and our CEO, Jim Witmer at the annual Gala this year.

Jim, Nancy (founder of FoF), and Jay

Both Jim & Jay were able to speak at the event, accept a beautiful Public Service award, and both felt honored to do so and be a part.

TheFireStore feels privileged to work with an organization such as Friends of Firefighters and encourages you to think about contributing to the great work they do.

Check out their website for more information and to see how you can help.

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