On Tuesday morning, the Selma Fire Department (SFD) presented a check for $5,137.75 to the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA), the culmination of months of fundraising as part of the annual “Fill the Boot” campaign.

Beginning in April, local firefighters set up shop at Selma’s Walmart and began collecting donations from citizens passing through the store.

Though this year’s collection is slightly lower than previous years, a fact that SFD Acting Chief Chris Graham attributes to a personnel shortage, it still marks the continuation of a decades long relationship between firefighters nationwide and the MDA.

“That’s the thing about our firefighters, they step up and do the job,” Graham said. “Anytime we have a chance to help out the community our firefighters are there.”

According to MDA Development Director Angie Jordin, the partnership between the MDA and firefighters across the country began in the 1950s when two New York firefighters decided to go door-to-door collecting donations in a boot for a young man suffering from muscular dystrophy.

As the years progressed, the firefighters kept up the effort and eventually raised more money than the family needed for treatment, so they partnered with nearby doctors and began contributing funds to their research efforts.

Jordin noted that firefighters are the organization’s top contributor, raking in roughly $25 million across the country, and one of its longest standing partnerships.

“We literally could not do what we do without the firefighters.” Jordin said.

In Graham’s mind, the importance of the effort centers around the fact that, currently, there is no cure for muscular dystrophies, a group of diseases that cause weakness and degeneration of the skeletal muscles, and the money raised through this effort goes toward funding MDA’s research, as well as its treatment programs and other efforts.

“Our prowess is in helping the community,” Graham said. “That’s what we’re all about.”