By Doug Miller
This will be the third Christmas Eve on which the department's volunteers give up an evening with their families for the cause. The party is paid for entirely by the firefighters, who make donations of their own and solicit others from area merchants. On Sunday night Santa Claus will make an early visit to the city, riding on top of a Long Beach fire truck to the chosen family's home.
The tradition was started by firefighter Samantha Pepe, a nine-year veteran of the Maple Boulevard firehouse. "It started when this really sick child came in with his grandfather to tour the house," Pepe recalled last Friday night, in between customers at the department's charity Christmas tree sale. "That Christmas Eve we all went to his house and the kid just lit up. It was amazing."
The event has grown each year, and Pepe said that this year the department has collected some $1,900 for the night, which she hinted may fund more than one party. The evening is a true bucket brigade, with firefighters forming a line from the truck to the front door and passing presents up to the family. "Each year, the looks on the kids' faces are just ... I'm still smiling," Pepe said.
The family is chosen each year by officials at Beach Reach, a social services organization that offers help with chemical dependency treatment and prevention, teen pregnancy and prevention, juvenile justice intervention and other issues. The names of previous bucket-brigade families have been kept confidential, as is the name of this year's family.
"We serve some families who have tremendous needs," said Alan Popper, a Reach counselor who is the liaison to the fire department for the project. "It's a very stressful time of year for people who don't have a lot of resources. So, what we do is link the families with the people and organizations looking to help those families in need. It makes the holiday season a little brighter for those less fortunate, and we're very happy to be a part of it."
Pepe said she had been made aware of the family she will be visiting this week. Asked to describe their situation, she shook her head. "Those kids have almost nothing," she said.
The Christmas bucket brigade is one of several community-based events the fire department sponsors. The annual Christmas tree sale, now in its ninth year, funds an annual donation to the burn unit at the Nassau University Medical Center. Last year the department donated $5,000.
The value of the bucket brigade to a needy family is hard to quantify with just a dollar amount. Every year since the first brigade, for example, Pepe has received a $100 check from the very first family, earmarked to help the next family chosen.
Comments about this story? DMiller@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 213.
