Recognizing First Responders

Buckhead Rotary, in collaboration with Livable Buckhead and The Buckhead Coalition, have worked together since 2019 to increase community awareness of—and gratitude for— the members of the Police and Fire Brigades in the greater metro Atlanta area. This effort was inspired by PP Elizabeth Gill whose daughter perished in a fire in spite of the gallant efforts of firefighters. Perhaps the most significant event we coordinate and oversee is the Holiday Ham Haul, during which 50 Rotary and other volunteers deliver 60 full holiday ham dinners to every Police Precinct and Fire Station in the city. Each year, around fifteen teams pick up dinners just before noon on Christmas Eve and deliver them to over 600 first responders, who describe the dinners as being totally unexpected and the highlight of their service during the holidays.

Planning for this event took close coordination by 10-15 volunteers, donating over 100 hours collecting the food, assembling each dinner, and organizing the delivery schedules.

Because of the success of this event, we are now in the process of scheduling a summertime cookout to be held at a Buckhead fire station. We expect to feed around 150 police and firefighters at that event. Setting up and cooking for such a large group will require 25 volunteers, and 125 hours for the planning and execution of the event. Each time that we have held these lunch cookouts they are enthusiastically received by the men and women who attend.