Firefighters Quest for Burn Survivors

Firefighters Quest 15 th Annual
Rally 2011
WOW is the word after 15 years of the Quest Rally,
with each year it gets a little better. This year Quest
raised approximately $135,000 for the ‗burn cause‘.
Who knows where the Rally will go from here with all
the support
we receive
from the
CHP, the
C S F A
S t e a m e r
(who we
r e a l l y
missed this
y e a r ) ,
Mercy Air,
G a l p i n
Ford, and
local Fire and Law Enforcement. Without these people
Quest could not even conceive of doing this rally. We
owe each of these organizations a great deal of thanks
for all the hard work over the years.
Some may look at this year‘s Rally as just another
notch under our belts, but with the newbees we had with
us this year we hope to bring them back fo‘ mo‘. For
Mercy Air and Roy Cox it has been another superb year.
Mercy Air opens their hearts for whatever Quest needs
to ‗get the job done‘. Even by texting at the last minute,
they enabled Quest to change the schedule to where the
change worked better for all. This year the pilots for the
event were just unreal and supportive. Each pilot gave
the Quest flight team great rides and a ‗show‘ for the
group on the ground. When Quest contacts Mercy Air it
seems to be the
norm in response
—‗whatever you
need‘ – doesn‘t
that make the
R a l l y
Chairman‘s job a
slice?
The Boeckmann‘s and Galpin Ford have been with us
for 15 years supporting the Rally. The family invites
Quest every year to terminate the week at their facility
for dinner to celebrate great work done by all for burn
survivors, burn centers, burn camps, programs, and
education. The Galpin Family each year provides two 15
passenger vans to serve our logistical needs for the entire
week. They have an amazing 15 years of doing this, and
many years they have even provided 3 vans for the
cause. This support makes our job so much easier in that
we get to keep more of the funds we raise. It‘s because
of sponsors like Galpin who provide our overhead, that
we can give 100% of what you raise to the causes you
support.
Rally 2011 didn‘t stop at Galpin this year like in years
past. Brad Boeckmann‘s son graduated from USC on
that Friday, and the Boeckmann‘s wouldn‘t have been
able to attend. Quest felt it would not be right to impose
upon their generosity when they obviously have their
hearts and minds elsewhere and could not be part of it.
Congratulations to the Boeckmanns and we look forward
to seeing you during Rally 2012.
What a week for the cause! On May 9 th Quest had 3
ground teams and a flight leg just to kick things off.
Nothing like stepping right into the fire on the first day
so we can
work out all
the bugs.
Each of the
A r e a
Coordinators
– P e t e
Lawson (High
Desert), Bill
B u e h l e r
( I n l a n d
Empire), Mike Matheson (Riverside), and Deanne
Johanson (Big Bear and the great supporters) did a great
job. Thanks to the ‗Grizzly Manor‘ in Big Bear for the
great lunch. Thanks as well to Rancho Cucamonga for
the superb lunch for the ground team, and many many
thanks to La Verne Fire for the awesome dinner to close
out the day. We travelled many miles by land and by air.
The sea part comes on Tuesday, because I didn‘t want to
do everything on the first day. A superb job to each of
the area coordinators for a job well done and for your
many years of volunteerism for a great cause.
On Tuesday May 10 th the day started very early, like
all the days did I guess. A small flight team with Cat and
Conrad Batham as Catalina area coordinators and I