Christian Jones of the Greenfield Fire Territory participated in a recent challenge that raised money for Riley Hospital for Children.
Submitted photo
GREENFIELD – Local public safety officers cooled down for a cause recently in a light-hearted fundraiser.
It was the Greenfield Police Department versus the Greenfield Fire Territory in the second annual Dunk Tank Challenge, hosted by Greenfield Walmart. Roughly $1,200 was raised for Riley Hospital for Children.
“It was a ton of fun,” said Luke Eichholtz, public information officer for the fire territory. “We love getting together with our police department friends and kind of having that competition, and when we get to do that for a good cause, it’s even better.”
Eichholtz said they ended up with their “tails between their legs” a bit because the GPD won bragging rights by raising more money in the end, but it was worth the effort.
This is the second year for the event, where community members put money in buckets to dunk an officer or firefighter. The majority of people were simply community members coming up to shop, Eichholtz said, but sometimes friends and family came by to dunk their loved ones themselves.
“I got to dunk Chief Horning a couple times and my wife came to dunk me,” he said.
Participating were six officers from the GPD, one from the Hancock County Sheriff’s Department, and five firefighters from the GFD.
“The water used for the tanks came from the fire territory’s tanker truck, which is usually pretty cold,” said Chuck McMichael, deputy chief and public information officer for the GPD. “This year, because it’s been so warm, the water was pretty warm! Well, the firefighters didn’t like that we were in nice pool temp water so they went inside and bought a couple of bags of ice and dumped them into our tank! Then the Walmart employees caught onto that and put several bags into both tanks. They definitely cooled the water off!”
The fundraiser was the idea of Walmart employee Brandi Zimmer, and McMichael said they’re always game for a challenge for a good cause. They hope to continue it annually.
“It is great to see so many people stopping by to make donations to such a worthy benefactor,” he added. “There were several people that came up to me and told me they were Riley kids or their children are or were patients at Riley.”
