Thousands of Downtown “Foodies” packed the pavement and plaza outside 333 Hope Street on June 2nd for the 19th annual Hope for Firefighters event. Besides all the excited diners, there was music, family fun and the enticing aroma of the amazing food all being cooked by the firefighter chefs.
All the firehouse crews were busy preparing well in advance of the event. There were menus to plan and props to build. Ralphs/Food4Less, the title sponsor in recent years, helped to make the pre-planning process a little bit easier. They provided gift cards for all the fire stations participating, making their markets one-stop shopping for all the food and supplies.
Things kicked off with a rousing rendition of “The Star Spangled Banner” by talented vocalist Lea Carranza. Throughout the day, emcees Chief Steve Ruda and KTLA’s Mary Beth McDade kept the show moving. And in the end, all the monies raised at this event benefited LAFRA’s Widows, Orphans & Disabled Firemen’s Fund.
Photos by David Blaire, John Wiley & Yvonne Griffin
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Our heartfelt appreciation goes to Heather Ross and Steve Robinson, co-chairs of this year’s Hope for Firefighters and to the Hope Executive & General Committees for their tireless work to make this event our most successful fundraiser year after year. And Hope founder Paul Linton was present, beaming with pride and approval as he walked down Hope Street.
Many of the generous downtown sponsors also donated great prizes for the raffle. There were two tickets from Alaska Airlines, a Staples Luxury box for the Lakers courtesy of ABM Industries, a Vegas trip contributed by R.E. Smith Company, and loads of tickets for concerts, sporting events and theme parks.
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The muster games are a favorite of the event sponsor’s employee teams. Usually the participants are soaked from fire bucket sloshing and inch-and-a-half overspray. But another drought year brought another “dry” muster games. The teams used buckets filled with cement and the hoselays from the handcarts ended with the hose still dry. If the smiling faces – even after the intense competition – were any indication, the participants didn’t seem to mind the modifications. The team from US Bank eventually took the top honors, followed closely by Brookfield and LA Tourism.
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2016 Sponsors
Gold Sponsor: Ralphs & Food4Less
Silver Sponsor: US Bank
Battalion Sponsors:
Brookfield
IBEW Local 11
Capital Group
Task Force Sponsor:
Universal Services of America
Engine Company Sponsors:
The Location Portal
Kironix Corporation
Kone
Emcor/Mesa Energy Systems
Emerald City Band
Pez Cantina
Clune Construction Company
California Hospital Medical Foundation
New York Life
Media Sponsors:
I Heart Media Inc.
Go Country 105 FM
100.3 The Sound
Los Angeles Downtown News