MDA fundraiser comes up $22 short of last year’s total

Austin’s boots are pretty full again this year.

The Austin Fire Department raised $18,022 during the annual Fill the Boot fundraising campaign for the Muscular Dystrophy Association — just $22 shy of last year.

“It was a great thing,” firefighter Jim Halsey said. “We couldn’t do it without the support of the community and the City Council backing us on this. Everybody had a really great time.”

This was the sixth year Austin participated in the MDA campaign by collecting donations for three days at several Austin intersections.

Funds raised through the 2014 Fill the Boot event will help support MDA’s programs for worldwide research, specialized health care services, and day-to-day support — which includes sending children affected by muscular dystrophy and related diseases to a weeklong, barrier-free MDA summer camp at Camp True Friends in Maple Lake, Minnesota.

“It was a really good year,” Halsey said.