Seattle Firefighters Protect More Than Just Lives

By Michael W. Michelsen, Jr.

Firefighters are a generous lot.  Everybody knows that.  Just have a tragedy happen or some other opportunity to help someone in need, and chances are good that a firefighter will soon be  somewhere collecting the money as well as the manpower to help out.

But for firefighters at the Valley Regional Authority in Seattle, Washington, just giving a one-time gift isn’t enough.  Not only have the members of C-shift at Auburn Station 33, helped support several foreign children, but soon they will be able to claim a young man’s medical education as their contribution to helping someone in need.

 

Starting Small

Michael Patterson (right) is a 13-year veteran of the Valley Regional Authority, first serving as a firefighter, and now as a captain, but in 1998, he was working as a freelance graphic designer.

“Working for myself was rough, and as much as we wanted to give to our church, a weekly tithing was difficult because we didn’t always have very much, nor did we know when we would have money at all,” he explained.  “As a result, my wife and I decided to start making a monthly donation to support a child in the Dominican Republic through Compassion International.”

Compassion International has been working in the Dominican Republic since 1970 to release children from poverty.  More than 43,400 children participate in Compassion International programs in more than 170 development centers.  Committed to tackling barriers to a child’s healthy development—including widespread health epidemics, natural disasters, malnutrition, lack of education and more—Compassion International works to bring help and hope to more than 1.2 million sponsored children and their families worldwide.

What neither Patterson nor his wife realized when they started was the big impact their seemingly insignificant donation would eventually have.

“For a $ 38 month donation a child is assured that he or she is provided for from age 5 through high school,” Patterson said, “That’s obviously not a lot of money, but what we didn’t realize at first was how completely these children are taken care of.  We started learning from others what all was being done with such a small amount.  We even received letters from the child about what they were doing and how our contribution helped them.

 

The Advocate

After eight years of providing support to a child, Patterson decided to take his work one step further by becoming a volunteer child advocate for a more hands-on approach to his support.

As part of his new volunteer duties Patterson visited the Dominican Republic several times to see his donation in action.

By July 2006, Patterson had started his work as a firefighter, and eventually, the other members of his crew learned of his work helping children.

“One day another member of my crew came to me and made what at first I thought was a joke about my work with the kids,” Patterson recalled.  “What I didn’t realize was what I thought was a joke he was serious about.  He wanted to get involved with what I was doing, especially when he heard how little money it took to provide a lot of support.”

Soon, everybody had heard of the project and each man on the shift’s 12-person crew wanted to be involved.

Those participating in the effort along with Patterson are Reed Astley, Dave Casselman, Jeremy Elliott, Norm Golden, Matt Jung, Troy Kilcup, Matt Kinnee, Dean AcAuley, Jeremiah Mushen, Terry Robinson and Janeen Ruge.

 

Taking an Active Role

“When you realize how really little it takes to make a big impact, it’s easy to say yes when it comes to getting involved,” Patterson said.

Patterson and the other members of his shift eventually decided to take part in a program called the Leadership Development Program, which provides a $ 300 per month contribution which goes toward the education and living expenses for a college bound student.

“We call this a double scholarship,” explained Tom Hanlon (left), senior vice president of Compassion International.  “In this program, Compassion International provides the funding for older students who want to attend college or some other professional training.  In this case, it provides the student’s medical education funding as well as money that goes toward his housing, board, and books.  In this particular case, this student is living at home, so the money that would go towards his housing will provide for his public transportation.”

The Leadership Development Program also provides for additional training in what Hanlon refers to as “Christian values” for a student.  “In this portion of the program, although a student does not get what could be called a religious education, he or she does receive a background in the values and ethics that students can live out in their everyday lives.”

 

A Hands-On Role

Although Patterson and his shift mates were happy to make regular contributions to their student’s support, and even receive frequent communications from him, the work their money was doing didn’t really come alive until the group sent Patterson on a trip to the Dominican Republic to meet their student.   

“Our student‘s name is Juan David Dominguez,” Patterson said.  “He wants to be a pediatrician, but just like so many in that country, he was born into terrible, extreme poverty.  I can’t think of anything that’s more disheartening than being a young person with the ability and desire to do something important with their life, and because of a lack of funds being unable to accomplish a goal that will benefit so many in his country.  We are determined to not let that happen.”

Dominguez attends Universidad Autonoma de Santo Domingo and is looking forward to using his education to benefit the children in his community.

According to Patterson, “We think we have something important in common with Juan David, and that is the willingness to work hard to accomplish a goal.”

Juan David’s firefighter friends plan to attend his graduation in 2014.

“Juan David doesn’t speak much English,” Patterson said, “but I told him that when he comes to Seattle to visit us, we’ll teach him what he needs to know.  In the meantime, he’s off to a great start to his future.” 

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