MDA BOOT CAMPAIGN

The MDA and the IAFF INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FIRE FIGHTERS·
FRIDAY, MARCH 11, 2016

In 1952, Charlie Crowley went to IAFF member George Graney’s Fire Engine Company 1 in South Boston. Crowley’s sons had been diagnosed with muscular dystrophy and he needed money to take care of them.

IAFF Local 718 member Graney immediately rounded up 20 fire fighters and set in motion a door-to-door drive that raised $5,000. The next year, Graney launched a city-wide fundraising campaign with the help of fire fighters across Boston.

Graney then suggested that Crowley and his friends at the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) go nationwide with fire fighters in their fundraising efforts.
At the IAFF’s 22nd Convention, Graney and Crowley convinced IAFF members to make MDA the International’s “charity of choice.”

Since MDA was adopted as the IAFF’s charity in 1954, more than $558 million has been raised for research and treatments to prolong the lives of children suffering with muscular dystrophy.

Go to the IAFF MDA web site to learn more.