Eastside Messenger - November 18, 2018

PAGE 6 - EASTSIDE MESSENGER - November 18, 2018
Active Lifestyles
A bi-monthly feature celebrating our
community’s senior citizens
www.columbusmessenger.com
Retired firefighter is still giving to community
By Linda Dillman
Staff Writer
Retired Madison Township Firefighter
John Jones may no longer fight fires or rescue
the stranded, but he still puts out the
fires of want and helps rescue parents desperate
to provide a Merry Christmas for
their children.
Jones is a volunteer with Firefighters 4
Kids, a program that provides toys for children
during the holidays. The program
started in 1977 by Columbus Firefighter
Mike Mullins, who lived in Groveport at
the time, and served 50 families. Jones
joined 10 years later.
“By the time I got involved, we served
about 1,000 families,” said Jones. “We
asked for new and gently used toys during
December and we even volunteered during
the off-months. We would go to J.C.
Penneys and they gave us returned toys
that were broke. Firefighters then would
fix them and we would give them out.
Sometimes we had to take three toys that
were broke and take parts off of them to
make one toy.”
When Jones joined the organization,
every sign-up was done by hand. He was
introduced to the organization when he
helped set up an annual kick off party for
children at Columbus Fire Station 4 on
Winchester Pike.
“I started to ask questions about the
program and how I could be involved. The
Columbus firefighters told me to show up
after I got off duty the next morning,” said
Jones, who joined Madison Township as a
volunteer in 1982 and retired in 2011, “and
well, the rest is history. I see the need and
I love doing it. There were times that we
would work 8 a.m. to midnight every day.
We also used one-half of a firehouse for the
program. There’s no way we could do that
now. Today we serve around 5,500 families
and 16,000 kids.”
For Jones, the most rewarding part of
volunteering with Firefighters 4 Kids is
knowing that he is able to help provide
Christmas presents for a child who might
not receive any and as a reminder that his
“The challenging part is not to lose it
when a parent starts crying when they
receive the toys for their kids. The part
that is hard to deal with is when you
have to tell parents that we are out of
toys for the age and gender of their
child. Sometimes we can have them
come back hoping we will get toys for
that age group, but it is hard to say no.”
- John Jones
mission is still to help those in need.
“The challenging part is not to lose it
when a parent starts crying when they
receive the toys for their kids,” said Jones.
“The part that is hard to deal with is when
you have to tell parents that we are out of
toys for the age and gender of their child.
Sometimes we can have them come back
hoping we will get toys for that age group,
but it is hard to say no.”
The 2018 sign-up for Firefighters 4 Kids
for local families is Nov. 29, 30 and Dec. 1,
from 9-11:30 a.m. and 12:30-3 p.m. at
Madison Township Fire Station 183, 3228
Noe Bixby Road.
In order to sign-up locally, you must live
in either the Canal Winchester or
Groveport Madison school districts and
show proof of need–such as SNAP or
HEAP, a photo ID, birth identification for
your child–Social Security cards are not
acceptable, and custody paperwork, if
appropriate.
“We are most need of items for teens and
newborns to 3 years old,” said Jones, in
regard to people who would like to donate
to the toy drive. “We have a lot of community
support that makes the program a success.”
The NBC4 drive-through (donation
event) is Dec. 8 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., where
you can drop off new toys.”
Toys can also be dropped off at any
Franklin County fire station any time after
Thanksgiving until Christmas Day. For
information on signing up or donating, call
614-645-3111.
6800 Gender Rd.
Canal Winchester, Ohio 43110
(614) 834-6800
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