The Beecher Firefighters Association, Beecher Lions Club, and the Kicking it Back Center have teamed up for a massive raffle-style fundraiser, offering participants a chance to win cash daily in September. This unique fundraiser is also an opportunity for the fire association to uphold the longstanding tradition of community-led support for its fire district and local organizations.
This first-of-its-kind fundraising event for the Beecher Firefighters Association aims to please everyone from raffle ticket holders to local charities and the Beecher Fire Protection District. Ticket holders whose number matches the daily Illinois Lottery Pick 3 can win $500 on weekdays or $1,000 on the weekend. Tickets are being sold for $50 a piece.
With a high ticket price, association members want it to be clear that this is purpose-driven fundraising.
“We’ve given away $10,000 in the past year to local charities. Our goal is to raise money for the association but also spread it out within the community,” Beecher Firefighters’ Association President Chris Pochinskas said.
“Our goal always is be right at that net zero,” Pochinskas said of the association’s fundraising efforts. They aren’t looking to stockpile cash.
Instead, they intend to raise funds and disburse them quickly, putting it right back into the community and the fire district to meet the needs presented.
Pochinskas said the association recently sponsored Chasing Cans for Cancer, a local 501(c)3 that hosts barrel racing and other events to raise funds for direct distribution to local families battling cancer.
That’s not all, Pochinskas had a long list of benefactors who have recently received donations from the Beecher Firefighters Association, including Project Fire Buddies, Rush Hospital, Breast Cancer Research, Region E of the Special Olympics Illinois, Beecher Blessings, and Camp I Am Me – a camp for burn survivors.
It’s a mission worthy of notice, as they aim to help meet the community’s needs in nearly every way, from those battling illness and injury to those needing the emergency services of the fire district.
With the skyrocketing cost of emergency gear, equipment, and vehicles, the Beecher Firefighters Association also takes a portion of the funds raised to help pay for equipment and make sure they don’t need to raise taxes.
“We use [money raised] for things we need in terms of equipment or apparatus, so we can offset whatever the district’s budgeted, and maybe pay the difference for the upgrade,” Pochinskas noted.
“It indirectly and positively impacts our fire district, as the funding is used for the equipment we need for the services we provide. So, the money we don’t use toward organizations and other charities, we’ll use for small equipment or whatever the fire district’s need is,” Pochinskas added.
Beecher firefighters are no strangers to volunteering, and the tradition of fundraising – it’s the heart of their organization.
The Beecher Firefighters Association was incorporated on August 7, 1964, with the intent of supporting the volunteer-based fire department that was established in 1911.
In 1913, an Independence Day celebration and carnival funded the volunteer fire department’s operational budget.
“Since its inception, this was a volunteer fire department, so everything was paid for by fundraising. The grounds around us with Firemen’s Park, there was a carnival that was manned by volunteer firemen, and then that’s what bought the apparatus and gear,” Lieutenant Paramedic Carm Welsh explained of the association and district’s history.
In 2000, a Fourth of July Commission was established to continue the tradition.
“Fast forward, almost 30 years, and we’re staffed 24 hours a day, full-time in operation. We didn’t want to lose that history,” Welsh added.
Beecher’s fire district only recently stopped using volunteers and went to contracted services in 2014.
And it wasn’t until just last month the district hired its first-ever full-time firefighters in leadership roles: Lt. Paramedic Carm Welsh, Lt. Paramedic Marcis DuBois, and Lt. Paramedic Bryce Budimir.
Still, even with these changes, that community-driven spirit and dedication to volunteerism are inextricably intertwined with the choice to be a firefighter paramedic in Beecher – a paramount concern for the association of current and retired firefighters and those manning the station on Penfield today, waiting to hear the tones and be called out for service.
“It was a way to honor all the work they put in to make the station what it is and to pay it forward for the next generation of firefighters,” Welsh noted.
There are only 1,000 tickets being sold among the three organizations, but those wishing to purchase tickets from the Beecher Firefighters Association can stop by the Beecher Fire Station during business hours, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday. Those visiting the Beecher Farmer’s Market on August 23 will find firefighters selling their remaining tickets.
If someone prefers an online option, they can message the Association’s Facebook page to arrange for a cashless purchase, as the association accepts payments through its Venmo account for a cashless transaction.
Stephanie Irvine is a freelance reporter.