SLO County firefighters & paramedics get ready for the 2011 Burn Relay

Posted: Oct 11, 2011 12:28 PM by Bethany Tucker, KSBY News

We're just two days away from the 2011 Burn Relay in San Luis Obispo County.

KSBY has been teaming up with fire agencies from all over San Luis Obispo County for the past 22 years to bring the event to our local schools. The event aims to educate local youth on fire safety and it also serves as a fundraiser to raise cash for the Alisa Ann Ruch Burn Foundation.

This Thursday, KSBY Daybreak's Carina Corral and Richard Gearhart will be riding up and down San Luis Obispo County with our local firefighters and paramedics to talk about fire safety with 8,000 students at 16 schools in the following communities: San Miguel, Paso Robles, Templeton, Atascadero, Santa Margarita, Morro Bay, Cayucos, Cambria, Nipomo, Oceano, Grover Beach, Arroyo Grande, Shell Beach, San Luis Obispo and Los Osos. The relay ends the day at the San Luis Obispo Farmer's Market.

While firefighters and our KSBY crew will be spreading fire safety and prevention messages with kids, they will also be asking for the community's support for the Alisa Ann Ruch Burn Foundation. The foundation says it is dedicated to burn prevention and provides assistance for burn survivors. All cash raised at the Burn Relay helps offset the costs the Foundation absorbs. That includes simple things like the cost for gas to get a burn survivor to a medical appointment, to offsetting costs for camps and programs that the Foundation runs.

If you'd like to make a donation to the Alisa Ann Ruch Burn Foundation, you can just stop by one of the schools that is participating in the Burn Relay to hand off a donation. If you're willing to step up to the plate in a big way, our local firefighters will also take large donations for sponsorships to send a burn-injured child to Champ Camp. Champ Camp is a summer program held each year by the Foundation near Fresno. The cost to sponsor one child is $1,000.

For more information on the Alisa Ann Ruch Burn Foundation, just click here.