Aug. 29—Decatur-based Brothers for Life Benefit Fund, which this month received a $9,000 donation from the Decatur-Morgan County Chamber of Commerce, provides relief during personal catastrophe for the first responders who help the community every day.
The nonprofit recently held its 16th annual Brothers for Life 5K to help raise money for its services. According to Brothers for Life member Brandon Strickland, the race had 220 people registered this year. Strickland and wife Anne Marie Strickland take the lead on organizing the race. Firefighters’ spouses often help the group.
“I still don’t know about running, but my wife and I can make the 5K happen pretty smoothly at this point,” said Strickland, who is the battalion chief for Decatur Fire and Rescue Station 1.
Brothers for Life first started when a fresh recruit was diagnosed with brain cancer. As a new hire, he didn’t have any vacation time saved up.
“It was a financial strain on him, so we had to step in and do something, and we created Brothers for Life basically for him,” said Decatur Fire and Rescue Station 5 Battalion Chief Bobby Peavler.
Strickland and Peavler are two of nine members on the nonprofit’s board of directors. The group provides monetary donations to firefighters, EMS members, law enforcement officers and dispatchers who face illness and personal tragedy. Donations typically start at $500 but can be $1,000 and sometimes continual if the first responder deals with ongoing struggles.
“We wanted to make something so we could have a permanent way to help people quickly without having to do a special fundraiser or whatever else,” Strickland said. “It’s good to have some money on hand for somebody that needs it. To me, it’s really cool because … any need that we’ve verified, we’ve been able to instantly say yes.”
Peavler said once the board has approved a recipient, it immediately sends the person a check. For example, a couple years ago, a married couple who both worked in EMS had a house fire. While they didn’t sustain any injuries, they weren’t able to salvage much of the house or their belongings.
“They’ve both been serving in EMS for years. We obviously had to step in and help them,” Peavler said. “They were very gracious about the donation.”
Brothers for Life was able to provide monetary relief before insurance came through.
Josh Melson, firefighter at Station 1, received help three years ago when his 4-year-old daughter was in the hospital with a MRSA infection. The daughter, Sadie, stayed in the hospital for about 5 days. During that time, Melson and his wife, Sydney Melson, had to take off work and alternated staying with Sadie and her younger sister.
“I honestly don’t know that I ever reached out to them, but long story short, I talked to everybody at work, like ‘I’m not going to be here. Here’s what I’ve got going on,’ but they ended up cutting me a $500 or $600 check that I was not expecting,” Melson said. “Just missing work and finally getting to go home with this check in the mailbox, it was like, ‘I really appreciate that.'”
Melson has participated in the Brothers for Life 5K since he started at Station 1 in 2018, and he now gives extra money on top of the registration fee.
In addition to the 5K, Peavler said the group normally holds one other fundraising event which changes from year to year. The race will be the only event this year, though, because Brothers for Life received the donation from the Decatur-Morgan County Chamber of Commerce’s 2024 — 25 Excellence in Leadership class.
Peavler said the money from the chamber will be able to help between nine and 18 people. The nonprofit has an average of one request for help each month, but the frequency ebbs and flows, according to Peavler.
Since its inception, Brothers for Life has helped people from Birmingham to middle Tennessee. Peavler wants everyone within a two-hour radius of Decatur to know about the group.
“All your first responders are there in everyone’s worst time of their life, and if you donate to Brothers for Life, you’re going to be essentially a part of helping those first responders, in certain situations, in the worst time of their life,” Peavler said. “So it’s a way for the public to be able to give back to first responders because they always show up in your time of need.”
Donations can be made to the group’s Venmo, which can be found on their Facebook page (Brothers for Life Benefit Fund), or by a check addressed to Brothers for Life and mailed to 4119 Old Highway 31 S., Decatur, AL, 35603.
— GraciAnn.Goodin@DecaturDaily.com or 256-340-2437