Pittsville Fire Department sponsors local families for Christmas

PITTSVILLE, Md. – With Christmas approaching, the Pittsville Volunteer Fire Department is returning to what has become a tradition.

“First responders as a whole, you always hear that term protect and serve.” Gary Bratten is the 2nd Assistant Chief at the Pittsville Fire Department.

He said the tradition of sponsoring struggling families for Christmas began seven years ago. “[It] started with our cadet program to give our younger members an opportunity to really give back to the community. And since then, it’s actually grown to a whole membership being involved.”

It’s now become a program that much of the community has a hand in. “Over the years, a couple of businesses have joined us and they give us a yearly donation for it. On top of that, we reach out to a few of the retail stores that we visit each year, and they give us a percentage off of our total bill.”

This year they’ve adopted 4 families: 8 adults and 11 children “We mainly shop for the children and I get area businesses will donate gift cards like Food Lion and Walmart and we’ll give that to the actual parents. That way they can provide a really good Christmas meal,” Bratten said.

For Bratten and the whole Pittsville Volunteer Fire Department, serving the community is about more than just responding to calls: “It doesn’t always have to be in an emergency situation, [it could be] times of hardship, which is what we’re doing now for the Christmas season…We strive to serve our community in every way possible and that’s just one way that we can do it.”

The Pittsville Fire Department will also be doing their annual Santa Ride this coming Sunday, with Mr. and Mrs. Claus leaving the station around 11 o’clock.