PALM COAST, Fla. — Young athletes in Central Florida are jumping, cartwheeling and rolling for a good cause.
Meet Expectation LLC held their Second Annual Bring The Heat Classic Girls Gymnastics Competition in an effort to support Firefighter Cancer Awareness Month.
The event looks to raise awareness in the public and funds for local departments.
The ricochet of the springboard didn’t just amount to points Sunday but also amounted to funds.
The Beat The Heat Classic is not just a meet, but an opportunity to raise money for an important cause.
“I don’t think people are knowledgeable enough about what firefighters really do go through,” said Brittney Powers. “I mean, you sign up for a job and not really know or understand what you’re signing up for until you’re actually getting that paper that says hey, you have cancer. Like my dad did not expect it.”
Brittney Powers is the head coach at FitClub Gymnastics and is the daughter of fallen Orange County Rescue’s Firefighter Stephen ‘Shakey’ VanRavenSwaay.
He died from pancreatic cancer is 2015 at the age of 44.
So in part to memorialize his name, Powers and one of her dad’s best friends and FitClub Gymnastics owner Kenneth Pfeifouf helped put together this fundraising event.
“Our goal is to prevent the cancer, not to cure the cancer. You know to try to get the cleaning products and just the awareness, you know there’s more people dying of health-related issues because of fighting fires than actually in fires,” Pfeifouf explained.
In fact, according to the Seminole County Fire Department, 72% of line-of-duty deaths for firefighters are because of cancer.
It’s a stat that Powers knows too well
“Why we’re doing it is because of cancer and what my dad went through. But there were so many others after him,” Powers shared. “His whole crew actually has passed away from some sort of cancer because of the fire that they’ve walked through and the green sludge I’ve heard about.”
In their first year, the event featured 300 gymnasts and was able to raise $10,000 for the Seminole County Firefighters Benevolent Fund.
The funds allowed them to purchase heavy duty equipment to store polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which are known to cause cancer in humans and can be found on firetrucks.
And with 700 gymnasts in this year’s competition, their team hopes they can raise even more funds.
“Being able to get that message across and being able to say hey occupational illnesses, they’re there and just being more aware of that and cautious and careful and if we can come together as a community to help save our local firefighters then let’s do it,” said GIVE Academy Facilitator Amanda Hammond.
The event raises money by using portions of entry fees, concessions, donations, a decked-out race car, and even gets the kids involved when they score well on the balance beam.
It also features multiple ways to learn more about conditions for firefighters, testimonies from cancer survivors and ways the department is trying to prevent cancer.
They want to educate not only the community, but even the young participants as well.
“We really take the word give seriously. You know we’re teaching these kids how to give back,” shared Pfeifouf. “We’re educating them daily on how to not only to be a part of society but contribute to society.”
This year’s event raised $12,953 and the funds will benefit the Seminole County, Volusia County, Orange County and Flagler County Fire Departments.
People can learn more about the group, along with how to participate at Meet Expectation LLC's website.