More than 1,000 Faulkner County children who woke up this morning to find Christmas presents under the tree have firefighters and their families and friends to thank.
The Central Arkansas Firefighters Christmas Boot Drive had a record fundraising year, $54,000 and counting, said Capt. Billie Carter, a Conway firefighter and director of the nonprofit’s executive board.
“We are tickled to death,” Carter said.
The most money raised in the project’s 16-year history so far was $50,400, he said.
“Last year, we barely made it,” he said. “I stress out every year; that’s what I do. Leading the punch for the Christmas Boot Drive, it’s my job to stress. Last year was very stressful, and I know how much stuff costs, and I was actually afraid we weren’t going to have enough to cover our food. Of course, the Lord always provides, but the economy in Conway has finally caught up.”
The first November weekend of this year’s drive was behind 2013 numbers, Carter said.
“What happened last year, the second Saturday was the ice storm. The second Saturday this year, not only did we come from behind; we passed last year’s totals and never looked back,” he said.
Firefighters and volunteers are annually stationed in parking lots in high-traffic areas in Conway, Greenbrier and Vilonia, holding out firefighter boots to collect donations.
He said 262 families were helped, which included about 1,100 children. The organization contacts elementary-school and middle-school counselors in Faulkner County to get names of families who need help. Each family gets a “huge food box,” Carter said, which includes a ham, canned vegetables, a bag of potatoes and more. Each child gets a pair of pants, a shirt, a toy and dental supplies.
“We also picked up Head Start this year,” Carter said, as well as two other preschool programs. “Our goal is to be our brother’s keeper, and that’s what we do.”
The firefighters and volunteers went shopping for gifts; then a wrapping party was held Dec. 16 in Conway. Carter said it’s a fun, busy time when he’s alternately “barking orders” and getting hugs from volunteers.
Alesha Arnold, the wife of Conway firefighter Jon Arnold, said the project has been a family affair for them the past 10 or so years. She and her husband do a lot behind the scenes, like getting boxes for gifts and food, and collecting dental supplies and food for the volunteers while they’re working.
She said their two sons, David, 19, and Zach, 17, volunteered right beside them all that time. She said the boys know that their lives revolve around the Christmas Boot Drive this time of year, and they enlist their friends to help.
“It helps my kids know that everybody can’t get everything — families do have to have help,” she said. “I think it’s a very good outreach program. I’m impressed every year. I guess I’m not very optimistic. I’m always scared we’re not going to have enough, and every year we get what we need,” she said.
Alesha said Carter and his family help make the project run like a “well-oiled machine.”
Alesha recalled the time when the project was smaller, and firefighters called families to come pick up their gifts and food boxes. Now, school counselors contact families, who come to the school on a designated day to get the gifts. Alesha said she misses seeing the families’ reactions, “but I’m glad we can help more people.”
The event, started in 1998, was an idea of Conway firefighter Mark McEntire. The first year, firefighters stood at Central Fire Station in downtown Conway and raised $1,700 and helped about 24 families, Carter said. In 2000, the event became the Conway Firefighter Union 4016’s Fill the Boot Drive. Carter said the project has grown and that the name was changed to reflect future growth. A new nonprofit was formed to reflect that, and he oversees the resulting 15-member board.
Boots in Businesses, a competition in which businesses display a firefighter’s boot to collect money, raied $7,403.85 of the total this year, said Tim Capps, coordinator of the program.
Winner of the bronze boot trophy for 2014 is Centennial Bank on Hogan Lane with $1,175.01; second is 8 Mile Store, which won it last year, with $1,388.66; and third is Subway on Farris Road, $358.67.
To date, the drive has raised about $444,000 and helped 12,000-plus children.
“I’m going to give God all the glory,” Carter said. “My wife and I said every time we decide to make a change, and we pray about it not just as individuals, but as a group, … we always have a record year. She said, ‘That’s just the Lord saying you’re going the right direction and making the right decision.’”
Senior writer Tammy Keith can be reached at (501) 327-0370 or tkeith@arkansasonline.com.