Dinner for Lansdale’s firefighters is on the community.
More than $500 has been successfully raised by the community for Fairmount Fire Company to have their dinner covered after this coming weekend’s popular Santa run. The effort was spearheaded by Lansdale resident Christina Ottaviano, of South Richardson Avenue.
Ottaviano’s goal was to raise the money to cover the cost of a catered meal, drinks, and desserts for the volunteers immediately after the Santa Run. She has been running the community fundraiser for the fire company for nearly the past five years.
She called the Santa Run an event "the town values so much as Lansdale tradition.”
The annual Santa Run kicks off at 4 p.m. on Saturday.
"A few years ago, I began to realize how much personal time the volunteers at the firehouse were giving to the community, quietly and honorably without asking for anything but their annual fundraiser letters,” she said. "It seemed like everyone could easily depend on them in emergencies, for the Santa Run, and all of the town events. But, we weren’t giving much back to them.”
Ottaviano began to collect money from local residents in order to treat the volunteers and show their appreciation.
Ottaviano kicked off her annual fundraiser for the fire company the last week in November. By Dec. 3, she had $75 in donations. After another week, the funds had reached $465, she said.
As of Monday, donations are sitting at $545.
"I plan to continue to collect for the volunteer dinner after the Santa Run for the foreseeable future,” Ottaviano said. "I do also collect in the event of major storm damage, like hurricanes and tornadoes, because the volunteers often drop everything to clear the roads and they work overnight and very long hours. That smaller collection buys them lunch, coffee, et cetera, during these higher times of need.”
Donate toward the cause by sending via Venmo to @christinalottaviano (verification code 2552) or PayPal via [email protected].
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