SHARON — Residents can honor loved ones while supporting local emergency responders through two holiday fundraisers: the Sharon Fire Department Ladies Auxiliary’s annual Memory Tree and the ambulance squad’s “Lights of Love” display on the town Green.
The auxiliary is accepting $5 donations for ornaments bearing the names of family members, friends and loved ones. The Memory Tree will be displayed at Town Hall from Nov. 25 through Dec. 31.
Tina Pitcher, an auxiliary member and Sharon’s town secretary, said she proposed the fundraiser in 2014 after Sharon Hospital stopped offering a memory tree.
The auxiliary uses proceeds from the tree and other fundraisers, including bunco games, to help meet equipment needs at the fire department and ambulance squad, Pitcher said.
The group has four or five members who also provide food and coffee to firefighters and other emergency responders at incident scenes.
Pitcher said the holiday displays offer residents a simple way to remember someone while supporting the volunteers who serve their community.
“If they want to do a little bit in memory or in honor of a family member,” she said.
Separately, the Sharon Fire Department Ambulance Squad is accepting orders for its Lights of Love fundraiser. Luminarias bearing the names of people being honored or remembered will be displayed around the Sharon Green on Saturday, Dec. 5, the day of the annual town tree lighting.
The luminarias cost $10 each, and orders are due Nov. 30. According to the squad’s fundraiser notice, proceeds help pay for a new stretcher, automated external defibrillators and replacement equipment used to care for patients and protect crews.
For Memory Tree ornaments, forms are available from the Selectmen’s Office at 860-364-5789. Donors may also mail a check payable to Sharon Fire Department Ladies Auxiliary to P.O. Box 794, Sharon, CT 06069, with a note listing the names to appear on the ornaments.
For luminarias, order forms are available on the town website, sharonct.gov. Completed forms and checks payable to SFD Inc. – Ambulance Squad should be mailed to P.O. Box 357, Sharon, CT 06069. For information, contact Thalia MacMillan at 917-742-7287 or sharonambulancect@gmail.com.
