Have you ever seen firefighters

I am more than willing to donate on occassion to groups who are collecting for a philanthropic purpose. However I take issue with those who stand at roadsides and intersectons to collect money. I feel that this is a nuisance and a traffic hazard. If they wish to collect money, they should find a better place that the middle of a busy intersection. Our local sheriff's department does the same thing. I won't even take down my window. I wave them away when they approach.

Firefighters and police officers abuse their positions, IMHO, by requesting money from people. If they aren't making enough money, let them tell their unions and/or their elected representatives. They probably make more money than most of the people they collect money from.

I have seen firefighters trying to collect money as some of them are volunteer firefighters trying to raise money to keep their firestation open and/or for other good causes. I have donated and will continue to do so because they put their life on the line to save people from fires. We do have to be careful of scammers out there but I feel that we should help them out so they can continue to help us out when we are in trouble. What they do is a very dangerous job, which many of us would not want to do.

nope!, i never see those kind of firefighters collecting money. we never hear before about that.

No sweety i haven't but I would love to! Even if it were for a party i don't think I would mind donating a little as they do have really stressful jobs and at the end of the day we really rely on them! xxx

As far as I know the firefighters in our town only collect money once a year. The purpose for the collection is not to party but to fund the 3rd of July Fireworks extravaganza. I've never been on the street in front of the firehouse when they've been collecting, but my wife and I have bought hamburgers and hot dogs at the firehouse on the 3rd of July. That money is also used to help fund the fireworks. It's good that the fire department is in charge of the fireworks because they do all they can to make it as safe as possible. They have their equipment set up to protect nearby buildings such as the high school in case any sparks or cinders go astray. And the show is always a real treat for the many hundreds of people who come to watch.

Do you know what they were collecting for this time of the year? Most often they collect for "Jerry's kids" around September. They don't collect money for parties in our area. Our daughter is a firefighter so I would donate to anything they requested. I would, however, prefer to make a big donation to the Backstoppers organization. I know traffic does get snarled when the firefighters are in the streets collecting and it could be dangerous also.

Our firefighters only do this once a year to my knowledge. They do a boot brigade for the March of Dimes. Our traffic is not so heavy as to have a problem with this kind of activity.

nope havent seen one in our country...is it legal there to ask some on the middle of the street and can cause traffic??

This is indeed something new. I have never seen fire fighters collect money or donations in such a manner before. In fact, where I am from, it is unlikely that one will ever see fire fighters collecting any form of donations in such a way. Interesting. So how does one know for sure that the donated money goes to what it was meant to be? Are there any audit checks on processes like that?

I ignore them, as if I wish to donate to the firefighters I know where to find them. I don't think it is a good idea for them to be interfering with the flow of traffic. That seems a little co9ntrary to the whole idea of promoting safety. Most kids at one point or another want to grow up to be firefighters or at least have great respect for those who do. So I wouldn't want the firefighters "playing" in the street--kids might want to play firefighter and run out into the street and get hurt. The other thing is how do we know these people are fire fighters? There are so many desperate people out there scamming nowadays, that maybe they are people just pretending to be collecting for the fire fighters. I would rather put a check in the mail. I would not roll down my window and invite a stranger on the street to approach my car.

Hi sacmom! I guess here in our country, it never has been a practice. I have never seen anything like that happening here. If ever this is happening here in our country, I don't think I will be giving donations if I really am not sure where the money will be going to. However, there are some firefighters here in our country who ask for bribe so that they will give certification of fire safety so that one's building or establishment will be given clearance which are needed in business permits. Just my thoughts. Take care and have a nice day! :)

Those firefighters are usually volunteer firemen who have no budget to run their fire department. Where are you going that is so important that you can't give a minute or two to those men who risk their lives to possibly save yours, anytime, anyday. They have regular jobs to support their families, but donate their time to help keep you safe. My husband was a (paid) firefighter for our city, and the city bought their equipment. But not those volunteer companies. Isn't it strange how some people expect so much of everybody else, but make sure you don't expect anything from them!!! I am sorry, but you must be the most selfish, self centered person around. If this is your neighborhood why are you not out there working for them to help buy equipment to keep you from burning up in your house. And no, they don't party on the money they collect. And if the time comes that they are saving your house and life, don't pitch a fit because they got water on the part of your house that didn't burn. If you don't live in the area, these same people will be backing up the fire department that serves your selfish behind if you have a fire.

This just doesn't sound right to me. I don't think they should be in the streets trying collect donations. I think they would be better off going door to door. It would certainly be less dangerous. I haven't heard anything like this before. Who were they collecting these donations for, anyways? I have heard about firefighters asking for donations of used coats for poor kids, but never money. I know, personally, about 10 men that are firemen and I have never had them ask for money as a donation. I will have to ask them about this.

Yup they do fund drives I think once a year or several times a year. If we are able to we do donate, but most of the time we don't have any cash on us except coins, since we usually use our cards for everything.

I ignore them when I see them because that is very distracting. I would rather they stand outside Walmart or anywhere else the Salvation army jingles at. The cause is fine, and what they are doing, I just don't appreciate the location. You have to pay attention to all these drivers, and now you have to watch to make sure you don't accelerate cause the car 3 cars up is donating. I don't keep cash on me much anyway, so catching me that way isn't going to help.

I can assure you, being a firefighter for over 10 years, volunteer dept and wildland, if you see firefighters with the boots, they are not out there raising money for a party, it is for charity, usually MDA. If I saw them out, I donated if I had the chance, depending on traffic. But, my s/o and I also contribute to MDA through the Ride For Life, which is also sponsored by the Eastern Harley Davidson Dealers Assoc.

I have seen this done and have mixed feelings about it. If it were in the paper that they were collecting donations for something like new equipment then I definately would. But if it were for raising money just for themselves to have a party then no...other organizations in town do it here. They stand on the street corners and collect. One is the United Way. They were out one morning and my son decided that he should be generous so came home and took some money I had stashed for vacation or for an emergency and gave them the whole thing...I was not happy. A small donation at that point would have been good! LOL

I am a retired volunteer firefighter/paramedic, I used to hold the boot. We did it a few times a year, March Of dimes, MDA and another time we did it for a family who lost everything in a fire. There was a family of 5 mom, dad, and 3 kids. The dad was the sole bread winner, and he perished in the fire, as well as their new born baby. The mom had nothing, no money, home, and lost her husband and child, so we collected to help get her back on her feet. I can speak for our fire house, we never used any donations for parties. I never heard of any fire house doing such an act. It is very hard for volunteer companies to run with out the support of donations.

Not to be rude. By why can't they use it for parties? These are VOLUNTEER fire fighters. Meaning. They don't get paid. What's so wrong with thanking them by donating something, even if they just use it to enjoy some time together with friends and family. Does it have to go to buying a new truck or something? Don't taxes pay for that anyway. I'd rather see them having some fun and enjoying themselves. They do a dangerous job, I think there is nothing wrong with that.