Rancho Santa Fe Firefighters team up to fundraise Aug. 25 for FireFighterAid

On Friday, Aug. 25, from 5-8 p.m., the Rancho Santa Fe Firefighters Association Local 4349 will partner with Atomic Groove and the Belly Up Tavern to host a fundraiser benefiting San Diego-based 501(c)(3) FirefighterAid and the San Diego 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb.

“Atomic Groove’s ‘Back to Skool’ Happy Hour: A Benefit for FirefighterAid” is open to the general public and will feature high-energy dance hits from the 1960s to today from North County’s best local band (Ranch & Coast: 2016, 2015, 2006). $10 admission is available online at bellyup.com or at the Belly Up box office. Doors open at 5 p.m., with live music by Atomic Groove from 5:30 - 8 p.m.; this event is ages 21 and up.

Atomic Groove and the Belly Up Tavern will donate $2 from each ticket sold to FirefighterAid, a San Diego 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization providing charitable assistance to firefighters and their families in crisis. The Rancho Santa Fe Firefighters believe in FirefighterAid’s mission, and they support their platform of programs including the prevention of firefighter-related cancers, and the awareness and support of firefighter mental health and suicide-prevention initiatives.

Rancho Santa Fe Firefighters will also cruise the Belly Up crowd selling raffle tickets for their opportunity drawing with chances to win a number of exciting prizes including “Dinner at the Fire Station” for six people, sponsored and prepared by the Rancho Santa Fe Firefighters Association. One raffle ticket is included with each admission; more raffle tickets will be available for purchase at the event; 100 percent of raffle proceeds benefit FirefighterAid.

Each year, local firefighters and community members “take to the stairs” in full gear as participants in the San Diego 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb. Firefighters and the general public climb 110 stories, the height of the Twin Towers, to honor the courage and sacrifice of the 403 first responders who lost their lives on Sept. 11. Since 2014, the Rancho Santa Fe Firefighters’ Local 4349 Stair Climb Team, comprised of firefighters, their spouses, their children, and friends/family, has raised over $28,000 for the Stair Climb’s beneficiary, FirefighterAid. The 2017 San Diego 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb takes place on Saturday, Sept. 9 at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront in downtown San Diego. www.sandiegostairclimb.com