Firefighters from East Pierce Fire and Rescue will be collecting donations for the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) through the annual “Fill the Boot” campaign beginning this week at collection sites in Edgewood, Bonney Lake, Sumner and Lake Tapps.

Look for the firefighters from:

Noon to 6 p.m. Friday, at 24th Street and Meridian in Edgewood;

Noon to 6 p.m. Friday, at the corner of Valley and Main Streets in Sumner; Noon to 6 p.m, July 23 at 200th Avenue East and South Prairie Road East in Bonney Lake; and

Noon to 6 p.m., August 18 at 9th Street East and 182nd Avenue East

in Lake Tapps.

The Fill the Boot campaign, sponsored by East Pierce Professional Firefighters Local 3520, raises money to assist families affected by muscular dystrophy in the Sumner, Lake Tapps, Edgewood and Bonney Lake communities.

“Families living within our District’s borders benefit directly from this,” said East Pierce Firefighter-Paramedic Andrew House in a press release. “This is our way of giving back to the community.”

House said the goal this year is to raise $20,000. The money will be used to fund support group sessions; cover the cost of clinical diagnostic exams; send children to summer camp for a week at YMCA Camp Seymour in Gig Harbor; fund research and help purchase and repair wheelchairs, leg braces and communication devices prescribed by MDA clinic physicians.

The Muscular Dystrophy Association is a voluntary health agency founded in 1950 to fight 43 neuromuscular diseases, including ALS or Lou Gehrigs Disease, which affect millions of Americans. The term muscular dystrophy describes a group of diseases characterized by the degeneration of voluntary muscles. The Association’s programs are funded almost entirely by individual private contributors. MDA seeks no government grants, United Way funding or fees from those it serves.