Since the attacks of 9/11 the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation has worked closely with the FDNY’s Counseling Services Unit and the retired firefighters who provide peer support. These counselors are now helping firefighters and other department employees deal with the devastation caused by Hurricane Sandy and they need our help.
The homes of as many as 1000 FDNY families were either destroyed or badly damaged. These are the men and women who are usually the first to respond when a disaster strikes their communities.
“The FDNY Counseling Unit reached out to the Foundation about the need for an organized effort to help the FDNY families who have lost everything,” said Chief Ronald Siarnicki, executive director of the NFFF. “We knew, as a national organization, that we could find a way to get help where it is badly needed.”
NFFF and the Counseling Services Unit are now set up to accept specific items that have been requested and to make sure they get directly to those in FDNY who need them. This list will change as the needs of the members change.
Anyone who would like to donate to the relief effort should go to www.FireHero.org/fdny to see a list of the items and to submit a donation form. Once the form is received, a representative from the Counseling Services Unit will contact interested donors with shipping instructions.
