Imperial Beach Fire Department Hits the Street for Give Burns the Boot Drive

Driving to work or elsewhere Tuesday morning? Take some cash with you and get ready to fill up some boots.

The annual "Give Burns the Boot" fundraiser takes place Tuesday on 100 street corners across San Diego. In IB you can find firefighters at the corner of 13th Street and Palm Avenue .

The drive, now in its 13th year, benefits the Burn Institute, a nonprofit health agency dedicated to reducing the number of burn injuries and deaths in San Diego, Imperial, Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

All of the funds raised through the Boot Drive will stay in San Diego County and the top fire department from each region will win the Burn Institute’s highly-coveted bronze Boot Drive trophy.

The Burn Institute will use the money to fund fire and burn prevention education programs and burn survivor support programs such as Camp Beyond the Scars for burn-injured children, from five- to 17-years-old.

witnessed the camp work miracles in young people's lives last year.

The Boot Drive is sponsored by the San Diego–Imperial County Fire Fighters Advisory Council to the Burn Institute and the San Diego County Fire Chiefs’ Association.

According to a Burn Institute press release, James Floros, the Burn Institute Executive Director and CEO said that this boot drive and the firefighters who volunteer their time for it are critical to the funding of the institute.

“The Boot Drive has become one of the Institute’s most successful events,” Floros said. ”The fire service really is the backbone of this organization. As a team we can do great things for the community.”

Last year, Burn Institute raised nearly $210,000 during the boot drive.