The COVID-19 pandemic has caused the cancellation of yet another popular charity initiative in Airdrie.
The Airdrie Professional Firefighters Association’s (APFA) eighth annual rooftop camp-out to raise money for Muscular Dystrophy Canada will not take place this year, though APFA charity coordinator Andrew MacPherson promises the association is still organizing a silent auction in March, as an alternative.
“Basically, we’re going to run it around mid-March for a week,” he said. “We’ll use an online bidding tool – it's called Bidding Owl – and we’ll try to get as many items as possible. People can bid on them for that period of a week.”
The online auction will also act as a fundraiser, according to MacPherson, with proceeds to be divided evenly between Muscular Dystrophy Canada, the Airdrie Food Bank, the Airdrie and District Victims Assistance Society and Airdrie P.O.W.E.R.
The APFA’s rooftop camp-out has been an annual tradition since 2014. The initiative sees a small group of local firefighters spend three nights in February sleeping atop the roof of the Toad and Turtle pub in Kingsview Market.
Since 2014, the charity initiative has raised approximately $121,000 for Muscular Dystrophy Canada, according to MacPherson. He said last year’s camp-out raised about $22,600.
Due to the timing of the fundraiser, the firefighters often have to put up with frigid winter temperatures that have dropped below -20 C in previous years. Despite the hardships, MacPherson said APFA members are always eager to take part in the camp-out and raise money for an important cause.
According to mayoclinic.org, muscular dystrophy is a neuromuscular disorder that causes progressive weakness and loss of muscle mass. When someone has the disease, abnormal genes interfere with the production of proteins needed to form healthy muscle.
Charityintelligence.ca states more than 50,000 Canadians are diagnosed with the disease, which does not yet have a cure.
“I think people are so willing to donate because muscular dystrophy affects so many people across the country,” MacPherson said. “You talk to lots of people who know someone who has muscular dystrophy.
“People look upon firefighters as helping people, and firefighters picked this charity to support. If they see them picking that one to support, they realize it’s a good charity to donate to.”
For any Airdrie businesses wanting to donate items to the silent auction, MacPherson said they can contact APFA at [email protected]
He said the Toad and Turtle is partnering with APFA on the initiative.
While he doesn’t expect the auction to generate the same level of donations as the rooftop camp-out, MacPherson said he is glad APFA will still be able to conduct a charitable cause this winter.
“Obviously, we’re not going to raise money like we did for the rooftop camp-out – we won’t get $22,000, I can tell you that much – but at the end of the day, anything is better than nothing,” he said.
Scott Strasser, AirdrieToday.com
Follow me on Twitter @scottstrasser19
