GREAT FALLS – While Giving Tuesday stretched far and wide, those near to us also extended their own generosity.
The Great Falls Rescue Mission received a check from the Black Eagle Volunteer Fire Department Monday evening to help offset the Rescue Mission’s holiday costs.
The money donated was raised during the Parade of Lights when Black Eagle held its annual boot carry.
“We just pick a different organization to raise funds for,” Fire Chief Michael Deshayes said. “This year it was a unanimous vote and we chose the Rescue Mission.”
The Great Falls Rescue Mission provides a men’s shelter, a women and families shelter, youth and recovery programs, meals, and medial clinics for the Great Falls area.
“We all volunteer because we want to help people,” Deshayes said. “Raising money and giving it back to the community is kind of part of us saying thank you to all the people that donated money to us.”
Deshayes added the department normally does not disclose the amount donated due to safety concerns.
According to Jim Kizer, the executive director of the Rescue Mission, Great Falls is a community that cares about people.
“At the Mission, we have about 204 people right now a night that we’re taking care of as well as feeding others and so on and it really takes a whole community. I mean, it’s not just one person, it’s not just one donor, it’s really all of us,” he said.
Sand Coulee, Vaughn, and Gore Hill fire departments as well as Malmstrom Air Force Base also participated in the boot carry.
For more information or to donate, please visit the Great Falls Rescue Mission’s website.
Reporting by Natalie McAlpine for MTN News
