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Date: 4/23/2015
EAST LONGMEADOW – The East Longmeadow chapter of the United States Junior Chamber (Jaycees) recently started a GoFundMe page to raise $15,000 to keep the town’s annual Fourth of July fireworks tradition alive this year.
Krista Callahan, one of the fundraiser’s organizers, told Reminder Publications the Jaycees donate the annual fireworks and carnival for the benefit of the East Longmeadow community every year.
The GoFundMe page’s $15,000 goal would pay for the fireworks exclusively, she explained.
“For the last couple of years, the weather has just been so terrible that we couldn’t make the revenue back to pay for the fireworks,” she added. “The fireworks, this past year, was almost $18,000. The Jaycees does not get any funding from the town or the state, so we have to pay for police [protection] for the carnival and the fireworks.”
Callahan, whose husband is the president of the East Longmeadow Jaycees, said the organization also pays for the Fire Department to be at the events.
“Our police protection bill this past year was $11,000,” she added. “The Fire Department bill was almost $3,000. Plus, we pay for our own electricity. There’s a lot of costs.”
If the Jaycees can raise their goal this year, the organization would “scale back” this year as opposed to previous years.
“My dad was the president of the Jaycees back in the 1980s, the same thing with my uncle,” she added. “I have a son who is almost two and I have to step daughters who are going to be 8 and I want them to have what I did growing up in town.”
The GoFundMe page would be open to donations until it reaches its goal, she noted.
As of April 20, the campaign raised $45.
To donate to the GoFundMe page visit www.gofundme.com/SavetheELfireworks.
The Jaycees is a leadership training and civic organization open to people between the ages of 18 and 40, according to the organization’s website. Areas of emphasis include community service and business development.
The East Longmeadow chapter currently has five members, Callahan said.
To contact the Jaycees or for more information about the organization, visit www.facebook.com/EastLongmeadowJaycees