Get ready to fill local firefighters' boots with cold hard cash and help fight muscle disease in the process.

Lockwood Fire Fighters, along with the Muscular Dystrophy Association, will kick off the firefighters' annual "Fill the Boot" fundraising campaign to help save and improve the lives of people fighting muscle disease in the Lockwood and Billings areas.

More than 25 members of the Lockwood Firefighters IAFF Local 3658 will fan out across Lockwood and Billings with boots in hand for this year’s drive on Aug 8 at 8 a.m. at the intersection of I-90 Frontage Road and Highway 87 on the east side of Billings, east of MetraPark near the I-90 on-ramp in Lockwood.

Fill the Boot
Photo Courtesy of Michael McMillin, Muscular Dystrophy Association of Montana
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“For more than six decades firefighters have stood on the front lines for MDA, striving to make a difference in the lives of those affected by muscle disease,” said Mike McMillin, executive director of  the MDA of Montana. “Fire fighters in the Lockwood area do more for MDA and the families we serve than any other group, dedicating countless hours of their time every year participating in Fill the Boot drives and at MDA Summer Camp."

Money raised through the 2015 Lockwood "Fill the Boot" event will help build on decades of research progress, helping push science to its limits in the search for treatments and cures, according to McMillin.

Muscular dystrophy, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and other related life-threatening diseases take away people’s ability to walk, move, smile, talk and even breathe, McMillin said.

Fill the Boot Logo
Logo Courtesy of MDA of Montana
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Dollars raised also help support MDA’s life-enhancing programs such as state-of-the-art support groups and clinics, including the MDA Clinic at Community Medical in Missoula, Benefis Health System in Great Falls, & Billings Clinic in Billings. They also make MDA summer camp possible so kids with muscle disease can enjoy “the best week of the year” at Camp Make-A-Dream in Gold Creek, Mont., and nearly 80 other locations nationwide.

 

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