Firefighters, police and fitness crews stepped up to compete in an inaugural Truck Pull and Toy Drive sponsored by the St. Baldrick’s Foundation and Indian River County Firefighters and Rescue at the Walking Tree Brewery last Saturday to raise awareness and money for childhood cancer research.
Team members flexed their muscles pulling a 37,050-pound fire engine across the finish line, and also bent a few elbows, downing pints of the special St. Baldrick’s Fire firkin brew that Walking Tree created for the event; proceeds from its sale were donated to the cause.
Attendees also brought toys which will be given to the Arnold Palmer Children’s Cancer Center, grabbed some lunch at food trucks, and let the kids play catch and football on the brewery lawn as they waited for the main event.
Initially only two teams signed up to compete, but as the beer did its job others got into the competitive spirit, with two more teams contributing their entry fees. Each team consisted of up to 10 pullers, paying $15 per person to enter. The goal was to pull the massive truck down the street and move its bumper across the finish line in the fastest time.
John O’Connor, president of the Indian River County Firefighters Association, thought of the idea for the truck pull when they were thinking of ways to host a fundraiser for Christmas at the new brewery.
“We were doing a roundtable with Walking Tree and it just kind of just popped in my head to have something that raised awareness for St. Baldrick’s but was fun for people to do and watch,” said O’Connor. “They have this beautiful street right next to the brewery so I thought, why not a truck pull?”
For the past five years, the firefighters have participated in St. Baldrick’s fundraisers, including the main head-shaving event, golf tournament and gala, and hope to add this to the roster of annual benefits.
“Last year the total money raised by the group was $156,000 and the firefighters were responsible for at least 20 percent of that,” said Frank Mannino, St. Baldrick’s Indian River co-organizer with Missy Elward of the all-volunteer effort.
The two have their hands full as Indian River County residents have united in the mission to raise funds toward lifesaving research to combat children’s cancer.
“A lot of the firefighters who do work for us have families, and if it was their family in need they would want to make sure somebody was there to provide that help,” said O’Connor.
“Being a firefighter we always are up to the challenge of saving the next person, whether it is preventative or doing the lifesaving right there, so this is all part of what we do,” said firefighter Alec Gatins, a member Indian River County Fire Rescue, team which took first place.
Upcoming St. Baldrick’s events include a Jan. 28 Rays of Hope Golf Outing, the Feb. 24 Cure Kids Cancer Gala and the March 25 Head Shaving. All proceeds go toward the Indian River County 2017 goal of raising $250,000 to benefit the St. Baldrick’s Foundation and its mission to “Conquer Childhood Cancers.”
