Darien is Blessed with a Great Community and a Great Fire Department

This weekend Darien Fire Department held their annual Open House to familiarize the community with the many techniques and talents they routinely use to put out fires and keep our community safe.  There were vehicle extrication demonstrations, hands-on fire extinguisher training, a (simulated) smoke-filled house, and the every popular fire truck rides. However, I believe one very valuable service our local volunteer fire department provides that was not on display at the open house and certainly deserves recognition is the support provided by The Town of Darien Firefighters' Foundation.  

I have recently become more aware of this Foundation because friends of ours had a house fire and, while thankfully no one was hurt, their house did incur significant damage.  In rare, tramatic situations like this, we all scramble to try to figure out what is the best way we can help. Luckily for this family, the Firefighters' Foundation knew exactly what they could do. My friend and neighbor, Kesti Aysseh, is on the Board of Directors of the Firefighters' Foundation and immediately sprang into action soliciting help from local businesses, such as , , and Fairway Market, to put together a relief packet to meet the family's immediate needs. In addition, the Firefighters' Foundation worked in conjunction with the and another local family who lost their home due to a devasting fire. The community outreach also included 4th grade families at who organized a donation to help the family.  

Kesti told me she is amazed "to see first hand how the community rallied and how the family's friends, neighbors, and school wanted to lend their support. I am proud to live in such a town where it is quite apparent the priority is to serve, protect, and reach out to our fellow neighbor when in need."  

I could not agree with her more! While there are numerous reasons to appreciate our terrific town of Darien, the community's warm hearted and generous response to this family's tragedy is certainly one of the best reasons I believe.  

The Town of Darien Firefighters' Foundation was created to raise funds to support Darien's 100 percent volunteer fire departments (Darien Fire Department, , and ).  The Foundation hosts fund raising events throughout the year if you are interested in contributing to this worthy cause.