The Naperville Fire Department is asking for donations of food and winter coats as part of their second annual Firehouse Food Fight.
Food donations will benefit Loaves & Fishes Community Services and coats will benefit Hesed House, Midwest Shelter for Homeless Veterans and Sharing Connections.
You can bring your donations to any Naperville fire station. Businesses can also partner with a fire station to become a secondary drop-off location.
The drive is also a competition for the fire stations. Each station will calculate donations based on a point system, and the winning station will receive prizes including a dinner catered by Hugo’s Frog Bar and Fish house.
“It’s a competitive culture we have here,” Firefighter-Paramedic Phil Carmody said. “Firefighters, paramedics a lot of times we have that ingrained in us, station pride, company pride. I think that would motivate some people to get more involved, and I think it did. We hope it does even more every year.”
Last year’s drive brought in more than 6,000 food items, and this year crews are hoping to increase that collection by 50 percent and recruit 12 community partners.
The drive is an effort by the Naperville Firefighters for a Cause in partnership with Local 4302, the Naperville Fire Department and the Rotary Clubs of Naperville.
You can donate through December 15.
Naperville News 17’s Beth Bria reports.
