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Our membership is made up of professional fire fighters from around B.C. from 43 different locals. Our duties include fire suppression, medical responses, hazardous material incidents, high angle rescue, fire prevention and public education.
In 1978, our members made a decision to be involved in raising funds for burn survivors. This was an easy decision for us to make as we are all very aware of the tragedy of burns and we wanted to do what was necessary to help those affected by burn injury.
In the beginning we started out slowly, under the guidance of Dr. Charles Snelling, and the staff at Vancouver General Hospital Burn Unit. We began to spread the word to our members across B.C. to look for creative ways to raise funds for the burn unit. It did not take long for our members to discover creative methods for raising funds. For example, a Prince George fire fighter participated in an egg-a-thon, and collected pledges for each raw egg he ate. I am not sure how many eggs he consumed, but he raised the sum of $8,200 dollars in the first year.
We were off and running and donations began to come in from all our locals raised through various events throughout the Province. Funds are now raised through golf tournaments, fire fighter calendars, meat draws, car washes, magic shows, raffles, slow pitch tournaments, United Way deductions, Mohawk Gas purchases and many unique events.
Our small and informal organization has grown very rapidly and it is a challenge for all of us to keep abreast of all our activities. We have become a registered society with an elected board of directors, and work very closely with Dr. Jim Boyle and his staff at the Burn Unit.
With the support of British Columbia's fire fighters, and increasingly from the general public and business people, we have embarked on some exciting and ambitious projects. On April 11, 1997 at a reception at Vancouver Hospital and Health Sciences Centre, to mark the official opening of the British Columbia Professional Fire Fighters Burn and Plastic Surgery unit, we pledged a one million dollar commitment to this unit. We are truly honored to have this facility bare our name and this act recognizes the dedicated professional fire fighters of B.C., who have made a life long commitment to this burn facility.
For the past three years we have been operating a very successful summer camp for burn survivors near Squamish, B.C. This camp provides an opportunity for burn survivors to enjoy the great outdoors of our beautiful Province under the watchful eye of very dedicated camp counsellors.
This year we established a new educational program during Burn Awareness week, entitles Burn Awareness Poster Contest which was mailed to all Primary and Intermediate school students in British Columbia. This program, is designed to educate children in fire safety, and through a program such as this, fire and life safety messages can be instilled that will hopefully be practiced throughout their lifetime.
We also work with "Dreams Take Flight" to take several children who are burn survivors to Disneyland, and we provide on an annual basis, "Learn no to Burn" public service announcements for all radio stations in British Columbia.
We would not have been able to accomplish what we have to date without the tireless efforts of all the locals of our association, from all parts of the Province, who have supported the burn fund by raising funds in the past year. Recognition and thanks must also be extended to past and present directors for the hours of work and dedication they have committed.
The BCPFFA Burn Fund has progressed from our humble beginnings to what we are today. At our inception, I don't think anyone envisioned we would accomplish what we have, or embarked on the projects we have committed to.
For the future, on behalf of all B.C. Professional Fire Fighters, I can assure you, we will honour all our commitments, and pursue new avenues to hopefully ease the suffering of burn survivors, and educate people about burn prevention. With your help, I know we will accomplish our goals.
Robert F. Brett
President
