"We get by with a little help from our friends." Paul McCartney and John Lennon sure knew what they were talking about when they wrote this. There comes a time when even the most self-sufficient of folks need some help. Thank goodness there are organizations and people willing to lend a hand. Terry Farrell was one of these people.
Terry was a dedicated member of the FDNY as well as the Hicksville and Dix Hills Fire Departments. Although I have never met Terry, I feel like I know him from reading about his tireless work helping people through the fire departments to his donation of bone marrow to a little girl suffering from T-cell lymphoma. Unfortunately, I will never have the opportunity to meet Terry. He was one of the 343 FDNY members who perished in the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center. I have however had the opportunity to meet his brother Brian Farrell.
As the marketing coordinator for Telecom Communications, Inc., a leading Motorola dealer, I was searching for a charity that we could support. There are so many worthy causes around but we wanted something personal to us and that relates to our customers. I reached out to some firefighter friends and asked them a simple question. "If we want to work with a charity that helps firefighters, what do you think is best?" 100% of the people responded to me in the same way "That's a no-brainer, the Terry Farrell Fund." I figured they all couldn't be wrong so I did some research and reached out to the fund. When I met with Brian Farrell and listened to him speak about Terry and the fund, it didn't take long to convince me. His passion and enthusiasm to carry on with the spirit that his brother embodied and to continue his work in helping people was intoxicating. I am proud to say that Telecom is now the communications sponsor of the Terry Farrell Firefighter's Fund.
The Terry Farrell Firefighters Fund was established in 2002 as a 501c3 exempt organization to assist the firefighters across the nation with professional, educational and personal needs. They assist fire departments with the purchase of needed equipment, assist firefighters and their families during times of medical emergencies, provide scholarships for children of firefighters and give needed support to returning combat troops and their families in the form of medical grants. The fund also receives donations of surplus fire service equipment from departments on Long Island to supply to rural departments that do not have the tax base to support the purchase of new equipment. Along with all of this, the Terry Fund also sets up and sponsors blood and bone marrow collections and provides cardiac defibrillators to educational institutions showing need. All of this can be done because of volunteers and sponsors.
The fund which has grown exponentially and now has 9 chapters nationwide has no paid staff and operates on a limited budget of 1-3%. They try hard to never refuse any request for aid. So, I encourage you to reach out and lend a hand to this wonderful organization. We did.
For more information check out their website www.terryfund.org
