BY MATT MACKINDER
Clarkston News Staff Writer

Firefighters will hit the streets with boots in hand asking pedestrians and motorists to donate to the Muscular Dystrophy Association.
“It’s a great feeling standing out there holding that boot, getting heavier and heavier, and seeing everyone helping with whatever they have,” said firefighter Nick Wilson, 10-year firefighter with the Independence Township Fire Department and Local 2629 former president. “Last year, we saw a few cents all the way to large bills being dropped in. Every one of those donations is just a drop in the bucket, but who knows if that drop is going to be the one that changes a kid’s life.”
Their second annual Fill the Boot campaign next Monday will help children and adults suffering from the disease.
“That’s why we do it. We do it to help. We do it because we were called to. And we love it,” Wilson said.
Aaron Lewber, MDA development specialist, said the organization fights to free individuals and families from muscular dystrophy, ALS and related muscle-debilitating diseases.
“We use our collective strength to help kids and adults live longer and grow stronger by finding research breakthroughs across diseases, caring for individuals from day one, and empowering families with services and support in hometowns across America,” Lewber said. “For MDA, the firefighters are our most valued partnership in battling muscular diseases. This is the second year Independence has stepped forward to support us and the 65th year we are the charity of choice for the IAFF.”
Firefighters give their own free time to support 14 families in Clarkston with MD, he said.
“We help those families with supplies, treatment at MDA-funded clinics, free events and sent two children from the area to the MDA summer camp this year in Lexington (Mich.),” he said. “All because firefighters like Nick and Independence Township go out and collect money in Fill the Boot.”
MDA helped fund research that has brought six drugs to market in the last four years.
“Firefighters are the most community-minded individuals I’ve ever met. When they hang up their hat and the end of a 24-hour shift, their work for Independence Township and Clarkston still continues,” he said.
“Usually the thing that drives us, whether we are firefighters, police officers, paramedics, or a combination of these, is helping people,” said Wilson, who recently stepped down as IAFF Local 2669 president to take on community outreach. “We look at our lives and try to figure out how we can do the most good with what we have. When somebody calls 911, we come in and assist with any problem that we are able. We aid in any ailment from a minor sickness to a life-threatening injury, any problem from an odd smell to your house completely ablaze. We show up when called. That’s what we do every time. And we love it.”
When Wilson met Lewber, he knew getting involved was the next logical step.
“From Aaron, I learned about all the treatments and research that the MDA was coming out with,” said Wilson. “I knew that there were many forms of muscular dystrophy and that they were all bad, but I didn’t know how bad. Twenty years ago, most patients that were diagnosed with MD would be lucky to live into their teenage years. Now, through the MDA’s research, these kids are living into adulthood, going to college and getting jobs—things that were unheard of years ago.”
MDA camps offer people with MD activities their bodies normally wouldn’t allow such as climbing trees, riding bikes, and even a zip line, he said.
“After speaking with Aaron, I brought the idea back to our union, and everyone was excited to once again be involved with the boot drive,” Wilson said.
After a hiatus, Fill the Boot hit the streets of Clarkston and Independence Township in 2018, and the initiative raised over $2,800 for the MDA.
“That was enough money to send one kid to camp,” said Wilson. “Knowing that somebody that suffers from this illness was able to spend time getting to be involved with all the things his or her more able-bodied friends do made us all smile.”