By William Kaempffer
The New Haven Register
NEW HAVEN, Conn. — A Fire Department battalion chief went from firehouse to firehouse pitching an idea: Sign up for weekly payroll deductions to benefit the nonprofit Wounded Warrior Project.
“My ideology was, they brought it for us, so we should bring it for them,” said Battalion Chief Paul Sandella. “I’m sure firefighters around the country feel like we do.”
The response was overwhelming. Seventy-five percent of firefighters in the city’s 10 firehouses signed up.
Now, the department and its firefighters union is reaching out to firefighters nationwide, hoping to build on the success in New Haven.
“On Sept. 11, firefighters went into those two buildings before they came down; but soldiers, they went out around the world to defend our country,” said Lt. Frank Ricci, who promoted the idea at an international firefighter instructors conference recently in Indianapolis.
Fire union President James Kottage said Local 825 hoped to pitch the idea to the affiliated state and international umbrella organizations for fire unions.
In New Haven, about 200 firefighters agreed to have money automatically deducted from their paychecks and sent to the nonprofit that provides 18 core services to veterans returning from battle with emotional or physical wounds.
The organization provides support for soldiers dealing with battle stress and post-traumatic stress disorder; recreational events, like large bike rides, skiing and skydiving for soldiers who have lost limbs; peer mentoring; and programs to help veterans reintegrate financially, educationally and socially into civilian life.
In New Haven, the idea was hatched at the Lombard Street station. After Sept. 11, Sandella and others from New Haven hopped a train to New York looking to help, however they could, at the World Trade Center site. When they arrived, they were shuttled to a staging area. The city needed heavy machinery operators to move debris, not rescue workers. Sandella recalled feeling deflated on the train ride back.
“We went with the right intentions but came home on that train,” Sandella said. “There are many people in this country that did a hell of a lot more than that. They went to their local recruiting stations.”
Some are coming home with lifelong injuries.
The Wounded Warrior Project started with the idea of a wounded veteran. As he was recovering in a military hospital from his injuries in a Somalia helicopter crash, he had nothing but his hospital gown and dog tags.
So when wounded soldiers started returning from Afghanistan, he and others started filling backpacks with comfort items such as CD players and toothbrushes, and delivered them to hospitals.
“By the time they got home, the hospital called and said, ‘Can we get another 100 backpacks?” said James O’Leary, of the WWP.
In New Haven, there was no tally for how much has been donated. Sandella proposed firefighters give $5 per week. Some gave more. Kottage estimated New Haven firefighters would be donating in the range of $50,000 per year.
That response prompted Sandella to consider reaching out to other departments in Connecticut and to enlist the union’s help in trying to gain support nationally.
If even 10 percent of career and volunteer firefighters were to donate $5 a week, Kottage said, that could amount to tens of millions in donations.
New Haven Fire Chief Michael Grant, who lost friends on Sept. 11, said he was “extremely proud” of his firefighters for supporting soldiers whose work, he believes, has prevented another attack on U.S. soil.
“I am continually impressed by the professionalism, compassion, and dedication of the men and women of the New Haven Fire Department,” said Mayor John DeStefano Jr.
“These firefighters risk their safety every day to protect our families. That they would also spare part of their paychecks to help other heroes in need is truly commendable.”
With the success in New Haven, Sandella said he hoped the idea would take off in other departments.
“And to think it started as an idea while sitting around a kitchen table in a firehouse,” Kottage said.
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