Run for firefighter memorial

By Ashley Luthans

On Saturday, an annual fundraising event was held in St. Joseph. The Firefighter Memorial 5k invited community members to come out and run for a good cause.

Patrick Holtz was one of the first runners to finish the 5k. Holtz shared why he came out to be a part of the event.

“I’ve got cross-country in high school this year, freshman year, so I decided to run and get a little practice in,” Holtz said.

Holtz also added that he was happy to run for a good cause: memorializing firefighters who have passed in the line of duty.

According to Battalion Chief, Mike Wacker, the fundraiser has been going on for over a decade in order to create the firefighter memorial in St. Joseph.

Although the memorial was completed two years ago, the fundraiser still exists in order to maintain and upgrade the memorial when needed.

“This was started over probably close to 12, 13 years ago,” Wacker said. “We finally finished it (the memorial) about two years ago now. So, the memorial’s paid for, this is just for the upkeep and if we need to add stuff like benches that we’re talking about doing, pay for insurance or any maintenance that needs to be done to it. This is how we raise funds for it.”

Wacker went on to share that this year is the largest the fundraiser has ever been.

“This year was our biggest turnout yet,” Wacker said. “We had 111 signed up, which is about 30 more than what we averaged in the past….We really appreciate them signing up and coming out and running.”