The volunteers of Ladder 2 in Somerville worked hard this year, helping to send grateful kids with special needs to summer camp. The Russel family celebrated the achievement at the station house last week.

By Harry Kane

Firefighters raised 15,200 dollars this year in donations for children with Myotonic Muscular Dystrophy disease. The volunteers at Ladder 2 held a meet with MDA ambassadors and the Russell family on September 22, 2011.

11 year old Emma Russell.

Fill-The-Boot-Drive collected 100,000 thousand dollars over the last ten years. These thousands of dollars send kids like 11-year old Emma Russell to a special-needs summer camp in Bedford, New Hampshire. “We send about 40 kids to our camp,” said fundraising Coordinator for the Muscular Dystrophy Association, Breanne Gingerich.

Veteran Firefighters Jim Piwinski and Joe Barry coordinate the boot-drive each year. “This year we raised a thousand dollars more than last year,” Piwinski said.