ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – Hundreds of boxes of donated items will soon be on their way to help families and firefighters in Ukraine thanks to your generous donations!
St. Johns County firefighters hosted a drive to collect food items, personal hygiene products, diapers, clothes and more -- and boy, did the community step up!
The firefighters loaded those items onto a truck Friday morning to be taken to the Rotary Club, which will ship them off to Ukraine.
The St. Johns County firefighters say the community really showed up and helped them in this effort.
The donations filled multiple rooms. Businesses also helped with some of the most specific needs:
- Bound Tree Medical donated medical supplies
- Callahan Volunteer Fire Department donated firefighting gear
- Home Depot in St. Augustine donated packing supplies
“Our professional firefighters and paramedics believe in community. Whether the community is in St. Johns County or if it’s the firefighter community in Ukraine. It just shows that we know no bounds within the loyalty and dedication that we have for our community,” St. Johns County Fire Rescue Engineer Britnie Hiers said. “It shows the amount of support that we have not only for each other but also for victims over in Ukraine.”
The firefighters say this is the least they can do.
“We always want to go out and do the best we can. Obviously, we can’t go over there and help them fight fires, as much as we want to. But we can do the other things. We can get bunker gear for them, boots, and gloves and help and support their mission,” SJCFR Engineer Chris Naff said. “Helping the helpers. That’s what do. And it’s nice to be able to do it from such a faraway spot.”