Making the Christmas season merry

By Jeremy Appel on November 27, 2017.

jappel@medicinehatnews.com @MHNJeremyAppel

Firefighters from CFB Suffield were outside the Hat’s Wal-Mart on Saturday and Sunday to collect gifts and donations for the Medicine Hat News Santa Claus Fund.

The department had one of its yellow firetrucks outside the store, where people could drop off their presents.

Aaron Schafer, a Suffield firefighter for the past five years, said that they’ve been quite successful this weekend, with people going into Wal-Mart and coming out with gifts to donate.

“Medicine Hat is very generous when it comes to that,” he said.

Schafer said they collected about $4,000 in cash and 150 gifts on Saturday.

“We’re hoping to match that or get somewhere around that today,” he said.

The SCF gives the firefighters a list of gifts they’re looking for, for each age group.

“It’s nice because we can just hand it to the people as they went in the door,” said Schafer. “I think the best thing always ends up being cash, because then they can just go out and buy what they need.”

A key part of being a firefighter is giving back to the community, he added.

“It just goes with the job,” Schafer said.

Sean Belfour, who’s been a Suffield firefighter for 12 years, agreed that helping the SCF is a logical outgrowth of the fire department’s community service.

“It’s a natural fit for us,” said Belfour. “Our job involves helping people, so our free time would just naturally involve helping people as well.”

For those who didn’t get the chance to donate, Suffield firefighters will also be outside of Canadian Tire on Dec. 2 to collect for the SCF.

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