All three Shoreline Rotary Clubs donate to Shoreline Fire's 'From the Heart' fund in memory of 9/11

Updated 9/14/2011  1:10am

The three Shoreline Rotary Clubs present a check to Shoreline Fire for the From the Heart Fund. From left: fire department PIO Melanie Granfors, Firefighter Michelle Pidduck, Captain Bruce Rice, Rotary Lunch club president Bill Forney, president-elect of Rotary dinner club (Rain City Rotary)  Donna Eggen, and Breakfast club president, Dina O'Leary.  Photo courtesy Breakfast Rotary.

By Diane Hettrick

Most people have heard about the Teddy Bear Patrol, where firefighters and police carry teddy bears in their vehicles to give to children who are in shock from emergency situations.

But children are not the only ones that emergency personnel find in shock and need when they go out on 9-1-1 calls.

Shoreline firefighters, working on the front lines of community service, often encounter people who have immediate needs beyond what emergency services are available.

• Cab rides for non-emergency transport to hospitals, homeless shelters, etc. 
• Bike helmets for three children who ride to school each day on their bikes and have no money for safety gear. 
• Food for a destitute family with a sick child. 
• Gift card for a family to buy a child’s car seat after theirs was stolen.

These are expenditures that cannot utilize taxpayer or operations money, so Shoreline Fire set up a formal fund for special circumstances.  All firefighters and employees at Shoreline Fire contribute to it.

"The fund is called 'From the Heart' because the money is used to do things that are beyond the scope of a medical emergency response… but an act of kindness for someone having a really bad day."

With the ten year anniversary of 9/11 approaching, the Shoreline Lunch Rotary was thinking about local fire fighters and emergency personnel.  When they heard about the 'From the Heart' fund, it seemed a perfect match.

"To honor the memory of 9/11, each member of our clubs was asked to donate $9.11 to the Shoreline Rotary Foundation so that money could be presented to the Shoreline Fire Department, our local heroes, to support their 'From the Heart' fund."

Dina O'Leary, President of the Shoreline Breakfast Rotary Club, said,

"Rotary’s motto is service above self – which for Rotary clubs worldwide includes five avenues of service: club, vocational, youth, international, and community. 

"Several years ago the Shoreline Breakfast Rotary Club decided that our community service activities would focus on basic needs in Shoreline including, health, homelessness, hunger, and education.   

"Until the “From the Heart Fund” was brought to our attention recently, we were unaware of its existence.  We love the idea of providing our first responders the means to aid individual citizens in the community in small but meaningful ways when they need it the most.  We are honored to support the Shoreline Fire Department's 'From the Heart Fund'." 

"We are especially pleased to have all three Shoreline Rotary clubs together in this project and hope to work together with the Lunch Club and Rain City on many more projects in the future."