Duluth Fire Fighters Doing Virtual “Fill The Boot” Campaign This Year

Every summer since 2006 you can see Duluth Firefighters standing on corners or weaving in and out of cars holding a firefighter boot in hand collecting donations from passing motorists. The Fill the Boot campaign hopes to help people born with muscular dystrophy, ALS, or other life-threatening diseases.

According to the Duluth Firefighters website "The money that Duluth Firefighters raise will help children and adults in our community, and will also help support innovative research to change the future for people with neuromuscular disease."

The goal this year is quite a lofty one at $30,000 and with not having the firefighters visible out in the community this may be an uphill battle so we need to spread the word that this is still going on this year.

According to Mayo Clinic : "Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (a-my-o-TROE-fik LAT-ur-ul skluh-ROE-sis), or ALS, is a progressive nervous system disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, causing loss of muscle control. ALS is often called Lou Gehrig's disease, after the baseball player who was diagnosed with it. Doctors usually don't know why ALS occurs. Some cases are inherited."

ALS usually affects people between the age of forty through their mid sixties and seems to affect more men than women. Early symptoms are muscle twitching, weakness in arms or legs, and slurred speech. ALS eventually takes over all your muscles you need to move, speak, eat and breathe. There is no cure for this fatal disease.

That is why fundraisers like this are so important to help with research to find a cure for ALS and other neuromuscular diseases. If you would like to make a donation click here!