COMMUNITY SERVICE

PEORIA FIREFIGHTER CHARITIES

For the Peoria Firefighters, our work doesn’t end when the fire is out, a drowning has been prevented or a traffic accident has been cleared. We take pride in protecting and providing for the families who live the neighborhoods we serve – and beyond.

Peoria Firefighters Charities informally began when one of our own was diagnosed with brain cancer and passed shortly after leaving his wife and new daughter. As firefighters do, we took care of our own, passing the hat at every station to ensure his family would never need anything. After a period of time His widow did’t need the assistance and return to the station with a check that contained the money she had been receiving but hadn’t used and asked our members to help others who were in need.

So with that push and insight your Peoria Firefighters founded the Peoria Firefighters Charities in 2000 to get more involved, assist those in need, fund community programs that didn’t exist, and help to make Peoria a better place to live. Our annual events, from pancake breakfasts to our CPR training programs, improve the lives of hundreds of families, seniors and children.

Here’s just some of what the Peoria Firefighters do each year:

The Peoria Firefighters Charity Golf Tournament, staffed by hundreds of hours of annual volunteer time, has raised more than $200,000 for charity. Another $50,000 has gone to college scholarships, helping fourteen Peoria students further their education thus far.

The “Fill The Boot With Books” reading program has Peoria Firefighters in each of the city’s elementary schools, since 2004, helping to solidify the importance, encourage, and read along all third graders, as this is the year the Peoria School District emphasizes chapter books. The average student participant reads more than 50 books during the year. Students who read more than 25 books are celebrated at our annual Graduation BBQ. Peoria 3rd graders have responded to the challenge averaging around 40,000 books each year and to date almost 450,000 books have been read.

Since 2005, Peoria Firefighters have offered CPR training to staff and 7th/8th grade students at Peoria, Desert Harbor and West Wing elementary schools. To date, we have trained 50 teachers and 600 students in first aid techniques.

The Peoria Firefighters Family Holiday Program started in 1993 to assist families and their children by providing the holiday experience. Your Peoria Firefighters begin collections in November and push for the next month and a half to provide each child with an array of items from clothes to toys. Each year we average around 400 children and deliver gifts via our special Firefighter Santa on the fire truck.

The “Fire It Up” charity car show hosted by the Peoria Firefighter Charities, since 2006, has provided an event to see 100’s of unique cars each year, with fun, food, and prizes. The car show has raised more than $100,000 to date to assist with many of the PFFC’s community programs, while providing funding to the Peoria Cadet program for young men and women looking to start a career in the Fire Service.

Your Peoria Firefighters are committed to assisting in many of the fights and challenges our community face, from smoke detector walks to cancer battles. To get involved and give back please visit the link to the Peoria Firefighters Charities website and donation page. Peoria Firefighters Charities Donations

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SCHOLARSHIPS

The first is the Johnny Valentine Memorial Scholarship in the amount of $2,500 for any student wishing to attend Glendale Community College seeking a career in the fire service or medical field. John Valentine was a Peoria Firefighter who passed away during the prime of his career from a brain tumor leaving behind a wife and daughter. Johnny’s spirit and energy live on today thru the Peoria Fire Department and its members. Johnny was a well respected Firefighter who lived the Fire Department’s Motto: Serving with Strength, Honor, and Compassion.

The second scholarship is the General Education Scholarship in the amount of $1,000 for the academic school year. This scholarship may be used at any university, community college or vocational school. Once accepted and enrolled for the academic school year arrangements will be made to access the scholarship funds. The student’s academic progress and citizenship will be monitored periodically.

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Retired Captain David Rehnke…

David John Rehnke was born in St Paul Minneapolis in 1961 and moved to Phoenix at the age of 13. He graduated from Marcos de Niza high school and worked for Smiths Food Store prior to entering the fire service. Dave began as a volunteer with the City of Chandler Fire Department in 1985 and was hired full-time by the City of Peoria on February 13, 1989 with eight of his fellow brothers. Dave promoted to the rank of Engineer after 7 years where he cherished his rig and helped to design and develop all future generations of PFMD apparatus. After 14 years of operating the rig Dave promoted to Captain and would serve the next 5 years developing members of the department in all aspects of the career. Dave also served as a paramedic with the department for 25 years and took the lead in many other roles from terrorism liaison officer to lead drivers trainer, boat operator instructor to lead preceptor for paramedics students. Dave moved to the position of Training Captain after his occupational cancer diagnosis on April 21, 2011 and would spend the remainder of his career designing safeguards for the next generation and making the organization a better place with his commitment to excellence. Dave had a true passion for the people he served and served with, while committed to making things better for those after him. In his career he was bestowed with many honors at all ranks but received the PFMD's most prestigious Johnny Valentine Award that recognizes the best of the best in what our organization has to offer. Outside the department Dave and his Lovely Wife Brenda married in February of 1992 and have two wonderful children Shannon and Dustin. Dave did not let his diagnosis stop him from enjoying life and he kept on fighting to make things better for everyone by serving the Firefighter Cancer Support Network and helping to establish decontamination guidelines and expand firefighter presumptive cancer coverage in the State of Arizona. Captain Rehnke will be truly missed and loved, but he will live on forever in the paths he carved for future generations. Go Vikes!

If you would like to make a donation to the Cancer Support Network to help continue Captain Rehnke’s legacy of fighting cancer please click on the link.

https://firefightercancersupport.org/