Upcoming Events

November 8
Burn Survivors Reunion

November 8
Easley Boot Drive

December 2
Shop with a Doc
  
For more information contact Jo Maypole at [email protected]

Donating is Easy!


343: The number of volunteers we thank for serving SFBF this year.

Fundraising is the gentle art of teaching the joy of giving.

 

Henry Rosso

Words can never express our heartfelt appreciation for all that you have done for my family. I never knew a place so genuine existed, we are sincerely thankful for you.

  Laura Rouse
Chavis House guest

Our BFFs from the Southside Fire Department recently visited SFBF to present a check for $47,000 from their annual Fire & Ice Ball.

Save the Date!
Saturday, February 28, 2015

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November 2014 

   

In this month's newsletter we salute the special volunteers and sponsors who support Southeastern Firefighters Burn Foundation's fundraising. Over half of the Burn Foundation's annual budget is raised through special events like the BFF Blitz, Storybook Brunch, Rodeo Nights, boot drives, golf tournaments and bike rides.  And no one knows our special events and sponsors like Bobbie Jo Gainey, our Development Director for the past three years. October 31st was Bobbie Jo's last day with the Burn Foundation. She left to take a position with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. We wish her the very best in her new career and appreciate the wonderful work she has done for the Burn Foundation.

Special Events lead the way

On any given week Bobbie Jo Gainey could be seen wearing leather on a Harley at the Jeff Chavis Motorcycle Charity Ride or sporting her boots at the Vienna Field Trial or showing off her new stilettos at the Fire & Ice Ball. That is the nature of fundraising at the Burn Foundation. 

 

Before she left, we asked Bobbie Jo to share a few of her favorite memories. "I could write a best seller with some of the experiences I have had at the Burn Foundation." As she talked, it is clear that nothing fazes this perky blonde from Elba, Alabama -  not even Little Elvis, the monkey that rode a dog during this year's Rodeo Nights. She remembers the day Little Elvis chewed a hole in her car's upholstery while en route to the TV station. Bobbie Jo just laughed it off and said it goes with the territory. 

 

One of the secrets of fundraising is a sincere desire to make a difference. We see this in so many of our volunteers and certainly in Bobbie Jo. "I grew up watching my parents work and contribute to something with a cause," said Bobbie Jo. "This made me want to work for something that had meaning. I wanted to contribute and leave my footprints." She left her footprints all over Georgia and South Carolina while working with firefighters, volunteers, and sponsors.  
  

Bobbie Jo looks at the patients and families that the Burn Foundation serves and understands how important family ties are. "I had a pretty special life growing up in a small town.  It was a little like Mayberry, where everybody knows everybody, and volunteering was a way of life," notes Bobbie Jo. Her mother, Gilda, was an inspiration. She helped with homework, had dinner on the table at 6:30 p.m., and found time to volunteer at their church. Her father, Bobby, a salesman who traveled all week, found time on Saturdays to cut grass for their blind neighbor.

 

Bobbie Jo gets a little emotional as she recalls some of the great volunteers and sponsors that she met through the Burn Foundation. "Without them, the Burn Foundation couldn't provide the services we do for burn survivors and their families." Like Bobbie Jo - sponsors, donors, and volunteers make a difference in the lives of many.  Bobbie Jo's high heels will be hard to fill,  but she assures us that she has left behind a "well trained army of volunteers to keep the fundraising fire burning."


Southeastern Firefighters Burn Foundation, Inc.
3614 J. Dewey Gray Circle, Bldg. C
Augusta, Georgia 30909
1-800-650-BURN