A group of Edmonton firefighters will be staying outside until they have raised their goal of $120,000 for muscular dystrophy.
Firefighters at Edmonton’s Fire Hall #2 began camping out on the station rooftop on Monday, Feb. 18, determined to raise the money by Friday.
But by Thursday night, the group had only raised $80,000.
“We just didn’t feel right coming down that short of our goal, so we all sat down on Thursday night and decided to extend it and stay up here as long as we had to raise the money,” explained firefighter Mackenzie Mandrusiak.
The whole station has supported the five employees camping out on the rooftop.
“There’s a lot that goes behind it that people don’t see. There’s other guys giving their time for free to work for us so we can stay up here. So it’s a big team effort.”
In the three days since, Mandrusiak and the group have raised about $32,000 more—leaving them about $8,000 short of their goal.
“The people of Edmonton have been amazing for this last little push for us here to stay up here,” Mandrusiak said.
He said the group feels like they’re in the homestretch.
“We're cold, we're tired we miss our families, our families miss us,” Mandrusiak told CTV News.
“But most importantly, I mean, it's going to a great cause.”
The money from the rooftop campout will go to Muscular Dystrophy Canada.
Firefighters across the country have raised over $80 million since the event began in 1954.
