|
Create a Smile
Established: April 1993
Sponsored by Redwood City Firefighter's Association
Create-A-Smile History
Create-A-Smile: Mission
Create-A-Smile: Who We Serve
DONATION
Current Events
Create-A-Smile History
 Firefighters see the worst society has to offer, sadly, sometimes
on a daily basis. They respond to calls with many tasks
to accomplish in a critically short amount of time. Developing
a strategy and executing it, whether it is for fighting
a fire or a technical rescue, can take as short as 20 minutes
from getting the call to the end of the call. However,
the call doesn’t end after the fire is put out or
someone has been rescued from a totaled car. Often times,
fire fighters leave a scene knowing that the victims they
are leaving will have a lot of heart ache, recovery and
work ahead of them.
It was a gruesome call that inspired the Redwood City Firefighter's
Association to launch their efforts to develop the foundation
they call, “Create-A-Smile.” Engine 9, Shift
B, responded to a medical aid call back in 1993. The details
of this call are horrific and the brutality of it is hard
to describe. A four-year-old girl had been kidnapped, raped,
beaten, and thrown from a car in the parking lot of a storage
facility on Hansen Street in Redwood City. She had been abandoned
and wasn’t discovered until the next morning. This
was a traumatic event that was discussed at length after
the crew left the scene.
Captain Meisenbach recalls his feelings from that day, “The
most overwhelming feeling I had was that something needed
to be done to help the victim (family included) immediately.” Knowing
that there are agencies that help victims wasn’t enough.
He continued, “There are a lot of programs and agencies
that provide services in an ‘official way’ but
there was an immediate need that the bureaucracy was not
meeting. We decided to bring the victim a huge basket of
toys to somehow start the healing process for the family.”
That was the birth of Create-A-Smile. More discussion followed
about how to bridge the gap between donors and victims. The
fire service is a natural bridge between the two because
of the constant contact fire fighters have with people in
the community. The scope has expanded to supporting other
charities that work at creating smiles. Create-A-Smile is
recognized county- wide as a leader in community support.
Create-A-Smile: Mission
Create-A-Smile is a foundation that gives back to the community,
specifically to people who are victims of tragedy, violence,
and misfortune and have little to no income. We particularly
target helping children.
Create-A-Smile: Who We Serve
Today Create-A-Smile continues their mission of giving to
the local community in which they serve and other communities
in need. Here is a partial list of where the money has
gone:
- Interplast: Providing surgery for children with cleft
palette
- Gabriel Memorial Fund: Providing after school activities
- Heart of America: Providing bone marrow for children
and adults
- Boy Scouts: Funding projects for Scout activities
- Sequoia High School: Purchasing sports equipment
- BOK Ranch: Funding horseback riding lessons for disabled
children
- Private Donations: Assisting families who have lost a
spouse in public service
If you know of a child or
family that needs a smile or would like to make a tax deductible
donation, please make check payable to:
Create-A-Smile Foundation
c/o Redwood City Fire Department
755 Marshall Street
Redwood City, CA 94063
Current Events:
Fill the Boot event:
This event will take place on August 15, 2008 between 7 a.m and 11 a.m. on Jefferson and El Camino in Redwood City. All proceeds will be donated to the Muscular Distrophy Association.
Redwood City Police and Fire Toy and Book Drive:
All Redwood City Fire stations will be accepting donations throughout the year. There will be more information regarding the dates of the event later in the year.
|
