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Date: January 19,
2012
To: All Members of Local 867
From: Alex Forrest, President UFFW, Chair of the Manitoba
Fallen Firefighter Foundation.
Re: Official Charitable Status for the Manitoba Fallen
Firefighter Foundation
On Behalf of the Manitoba Fallen Firefighter
Foundation I am proud to announce that we have received formal approval
for Charitable Status from Revenue Canada.
The Manitoba Legislature recently passed
legislation enabling the Firefighters of Manitoba to create a Charitable
Foundation for the purpose of creating a memorial to the more than
eighty Manitoba Firefighters who have died in the line of duty since the
Province of Manitoba was created. Included in this total are
sixty-seven Winnipeg Firefighters who gave the ultimate sacrifice.
The legislation also tasks the Foundation with
educating the public about our job and our sacrifices and assisting the
spouses and families of fallen firefighters.
The Foundation Committee will be composed of
representatives of all areas of firefighting including wild land,
forestry, volunteer, urban professional, military, native and private
firefighting groups as well as family members of our fallen Brothers and
Sisters.
I have the honor of being the first Chair of the
Foundation and I have been politically active on this issue with the
incredible support of the UFFW Executive. However, it is Dave Naaykens,
the Treasurer of the foundation, who has done much of the paper work
required to attain charitable status and I would like to thank him for
his efforts.
Property within Memorial Park has been assigned to
us to build the memorial and we hope that we will soon be able to unveil
the exact site and the memorial set up.
We have had many active and retired members ask us
about making a donation to the foundation. We will soon be set up to
accept donations and provide receipts but we ask everyone to be patient.
On
behalf of the Foundation I assure you that the memorial will be
something for every Firefighter in this province to be proud of.
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