Fill The Boot Story

Do you recognizes the names Butch Snyder and Jim Grigsby? They weren't movie stares, writers, musicians, or the heads of industry. They were firefighters. While their names might not be familiar, their legacy lives on every year because of an idea they had back in 1954.

In that year, Butch and Jim, along with a group of Nevada firefighters, decided they wanted to do something for Jerry's Kids. So ….They grabbed their work boots and headed out into the community with the hope that people would fill those boots with money. They did, and continue to do so today. Since that humble beginning in 1954, firefighters' boots have overflowed with coins and cash totaling $140 million dollars!

Fill-the-Boot has grown into one of MDA's biggest fundraisers. The money collected over the past forty-six years has funded breakthrough research, clinics, equipment and summer camps for thousands and thousands of special kids. But Fill-the-Boot is not just about hope for people with neuromuscular disease, it is also about remembering. In a sad twist of irony, both Butch Snyder and Jim Grigsby, two of the Nevada firefighters who took those boots out in 1954, succumbed to neuromuscular disease themselves and an early death.

The story Fill-the-Boot is not a sad one. It is a story that celebrates life. It is a story that tells us about the spirit of human caring. It is a story that tells us how a few people can challenge anything, even a disease, if they have the generosity and a heart like that of a firefighter.