Firefighters Walk to Raise Awareness and Funds for Crisis Nursery

Phoenix Firefighters to Walk across Arizona to Raise Funds for Crisis Nursery

Phoenix, Arizona – Joel Anderson is proud of many things in his life.  He’s a dedicated Phoenix Firefighter and has served as a firefighter for four years.  Joel has survived the elements on the CBS hit reality series Survivor – Micronesia.  He has also been married for the past seven years and has two rambunctious sons. They are expecting their 3rd child in October. During the first three years of his marriage, Joel and his wife mentored children in Foster Care. Eventually, they fostered 3 siblings in their home prior to having their own children.  Helping people, especially children in need, has always weighed heavy on his heart.

Joel’s fire station, Phoenix Fire Station 11, is located in front of Crisis Nursery’s Children’s Shelter in Central Phoenix.  Everyday, he sees children in need receive help from caring, nurturing staff.  Sadly, with the economic downturn, he knows there are many more challenges that face families and children in our community. And this year has become increasingly challenging for Crisis Nursery to raise funds and support needed to continue to provide for the city’s most vulnerable children. 

Joel’s experiences in life and his commitment to helping at risk children have led him to his next challenge:  The Long AZ Walk.  He, along with three firefighters from Station 11, John Belisle, Mike Diaz and Steve McClellan, are training to walk across the State of Arizona.  Their hope through The Long AZ Walk is to raise awareness and funds for Crisis Nursery.  The walk is approximately 415 miles and will take place November 5-20, 2009.  On November 14^th, we will celebrate the midway point of our walk with an event that the community and media are invited to participate.  All funds raised will go towards Crisis Nursery to help them raise funds for their Hope for the Holidays Campaign.

“As firefighters, we are very accustomed to the heat, but doing The Long AZ Walk, will be much more demanding than fighting a fire for a few hours. Crisis Nursery is well worth the sacrifice and the children need our help,” says Joel.

Step by step, they will help children in crisis and they are challenging everyone to make the first step and help support them in their efforts.  They have sponsorship opportunities that range from $100 to $5,000.  Please visit their website, http://www.thelongazwalk.com, to learn more about Joel and The Long AZ Walk.

Published on behalf of The Long AZ Walk and Crisis Nursery
As the oldest child crisis center in the Valley, Crisis Nursery has provided hope and support for over 16,000 children and their families.  With the mission of breaking the cycle of child abuse and neglect, their services offer a safe and nurturing environment for children and provide families with the help, support and encouragement they need to overcome issues that put their children at risk for abuse, neglect or homelessness.  Programs include shelter services, developmental day care, foster care recruitment, training and supervision, supervised visitation and family support services. For more information, please call Irene Agustin, (602) 273-7363 or by email iagustin@crisisnurseryphx.org.  For more information about Crisis Nursery, please visit www.crisisnurseryphx.org.

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