MINNEAPOLIS - Christmas may be the last thing on the minds of families who have survived burn trauma or house fires.
But one local group makes Christmas for those families a priority.
Every Christmas, Firefighters for Healing gives gifts to the patients of the Hennepin County Medical Center Burn Center. And this Christmas, it's letting KARE 11 Sunrise's Alicia Lewis and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey be a part of the holiday cheer.
Firefighters for Healing asks for donated gifts and delivers them personally to the center. Two firetrucks from the Minneapolis Fire Department are loaded up with the gifts. The firefighters turn on their lights and horns to let the patients know the gifts are arriving.
This year, Voice contestant Esera Tuaolo will be singing carols at the center.
In the future, the group wants to go a step beyond Christmas gifts. It wants to build a Healing Center.
“We want patients to feel a joy and comfort, families and caregivers to feel a moment of relief, burn unit staff to feel our love and support and volunteers to feel energized to do even more,” said Jake LaFerriere, former Minneapolis firefighter and founder of Firefighters for Healing. “The age range of patients and the stories of how they were burned compounds the emotions we experience each year we do this.”
To participate in the group's new effort, you can buy a brick for the Healing Center by clicking here.
Firefighters for Healing is currently accepting nominations for patients who would receive gifts.
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