Santa, Sirens, and Service!

Monthly Community Service Hours Completed: December 5 hours

Cumulative Fall Semester Hours Completed: 12 hours

    This holiday season began with a spark as I had the opportunity to volunteer with St. George Fire Department (SGFD) of Baton Rouge. Each year, SGFD participates in a Christmas parade in Baton Rouge where their fire trucks lead the way for volunteers of St. Vincent De Paul to collect nonperishable food items and toys from parade-goers to be donated to underprivileged families in the community. I truly felt the warmth of Christmas being able to serve our first-responders as they serve our community.

    Station 62, for years, has been the busiest station in SGFD’s district. Apart from their regular station duties, the crews often have little time to make their station feel remotely festive. In preparation for the parade this past Saturday, I decorated station 62 with Christmas décor and prepped the truck with the supplies needed for the parade. The crews at 62 spend days at a time away from their families and friends and Christmas is no exception. Two of my favorite tasks were painting a custom Station 62 Santa sign and making ornaments with the names of the crew members for their tree. 

As we ended our Neoplasm Module in the Pharmacology Program at Tulane, I felt especially in tune to hearing about SGFD’s cancer prevention procedures. Firemen and women are at an increased risk for cancer with the high levels of carcinogen exposure during active fires and post-fire clean up. Their preventative procedures have been developing over the years to bring awareness to the issue at large. 

Volunteering at the St. George Fire Department reminded me of the power of community and the joy that comes from giving back. Whether through a simple ornament or a grand parade, the spirit of the holiday season is now blazing at station 62. 




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