Crusade thanks fire departments

Crusade thanks fire departments

As we begin the new year of 2014, the WHAS Crusade for Children looks back at moments that made the Crusade 60th anniversary year, 2013 something to be thankful for.

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walton awards 2013 cu

walton awards 2013

The WHAS Crusade for Children celebrated its 60th year by reaching its goal of raising 6 million dollars for the 60th Crusade in 2013. It took the combined efforts of firefighters, businesses and the good people of Kentucky and southern Indiana to raise that amazing total. At a special breakfast the Crusade staff honored the fundraisers who improved the most over the previous year’s total. The gathering was carried live on WHAS11’s morning entertainment program, Great Day Live. Terry Meiners was the breakfast host.

Jim Walton & Phyllis Knight Awards

The awards for fire departments are the Walton Awards. Given in memory of the man they called Mr. Crusade, longtime TV, radio personality and Crusade master of ceremonies Jim Walton.

Crusade President & CEO Dawn Lee said, “Each year we honor the firefighters and businesses who’ve made the largest improvement in their Crusade effort from the previous year. For the firefighters there are four monetary levels. Those include fire groups who on average raise between $1000 to $9,999…fire groups that raise $10,000 to $49,999… fire groups that raise $50,000 to $99,999 …and finally fire groups who raise $100,000 and above. We also present the Phyllis Knight Award to the most improved business which contributes $25,000 or more on average.”

Phyllis was a longtime host and executive director of the WHAS Crusade for Children starting in the 1950’s. The Knight award was created in her memory.

Here are the winners!

The First Walton Award goes to the Westport Volunteer Fire Department, whose Crusade total improved 178% from $937 to $2,607.
westport vfd walton 2013

The second Walton Award goes to Jennings Township Volunteer Fire Department. They improved their total by 143% going from $4,886 to $11,854.
jennings walton 2013

The third Walton Award goes to Middletown Fire Protection District. The Middletown firefighters improved 24%. They went from $65,098 to $80,533.
middletown walton 2013

And the fourth Walton Award goes to McMahan Fire Protection District. They raised their total by 86%. They went from $120,000 to $195,000
mcmahan walton 2013

The winner in the business category and recipient of the Phyllis Knight Award is longtime Crusade supporter McAlister’s Deli. Their total up 63%…going from $31,000 to $51,000. Representatives from McAlister’s were unable to attend the breakfast.

walton awards 2013 knight

Thanks to all for hard work and dedication to the WHAS Crusade for Children.

all fd walton 2013

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