From left: Lake Charles Fire Fighter (top row) Dale Sarvant, Justin Governale, Wil Veuleman and Dustin Mier; (bottom row) MDA camper Greg Breaux, his counselor and Lake Charles fire fighter Casey LeBlanc.

June 27, 2008 - For years, members of the Lake Charles, LA Local 561 give their time to collect for the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA). This Fill-the-Boot effort helps MDA provide services to nearly 850 patients in Southwest Louisiana who are affected by muscular dystrophy. With the fire fighters help, MDA can pay for patient’s flu shots, clinic visits, leg braces, wheelchairs and, most importantly, one week at MDA summer camp in Bethany, Louisiana.

Four members of Lake Charles Local 561 made the trek June 10 to MDA's Rainbow Camp held at Camp Bethany -- about 20 miles outside of Shreveport -- to see how their fundraising is used. Fire fighters also cooked dinner that night for a group of nearly 300 campers, camp counselors and support staff. Dale Sarvant, Justin Governale, Wil Veuleman and Dustin Mier spent the afternoon cooking barbeque chicken and preparing a delicious meal while campers spent the day swimming, fishing, and playing power soccer and bocci ball.

The entire meal was paid for and prepared by the Lake Charles Local 561 to help defray the cost of summer camp. MDA truly appreciates the “guest chefs” and year-round MDA sponsors for donating their time to cook for camp.

Also representing Lake Charles Local 561 were camp counselors Brent Sarvant, Jason “Jay” Reeds and Casey LeBlanc. These counselors attend the week-long camp and are paired up with an MDA camper, becoming the sole caregiver for their designated camper. They spend the entire week giving one-on-one attention to them.

It truly takes a special person to give a week of their summer to these MDA campers, and MDA Rainbow Camp would not be possible without these fire fighter counselors.

Lake Charles Local 561 has gone above and beyond by not only continually supporting MDA’s Fill-the-Boot program, but by also being a very valuable resource for MDA Rainbow Summer Camp.