The Athens Fire & Rescue Auxiliary is a nonprofit charity that the fire department established over 30 years ago. The purpose of the auxiliary has always been to assist those who are less fortunate, especially children. For many years the auxiliary has partnered with our local Wal-Mart to take kids shopping each year at Christmas for our “Shop with a Firefighter” night. Our administrative assistant at the fire department works closely each year with the local school counselors to choose children for us to take shopping. There are times where the children chosen for this event may have not gotten a present that year. This is not a slight to their parents/guardians; there are many reasons why families and children are less fortunate than most of us are. That is why we at Athens Fire want to give back as much as we can. We delight in seeing the joy on their faces as they shop. 

Here is how the shopping works. Each child is paired with a firefighter or family member of a firefighter and given $200 to spend. Half has to be spent on necessity items(clothes, shoes, socks, underwear, etc), the other half is theirs to spend freely(with limitations). While the child shops, the firefighter will keep track of the price of each item the child chooses unit they reach their limit. Wal-Mart designates a check-out just for us on this night. We check-out the items, bag them up, and the child is ready to go. 

The auxiliary is also involved in other events. We assist other firefighters when they have injury/illness, we give money to other organizations to better their cause as well as other activities. 

The auxiliary would not be possible without the fundraising efforts put forth each year. For many years the auxiliary was supported by the annual Athens Fire Bean Day. After Bean Day came to an end, another way to raise money had to be found. We sponsored a golf tournament for a few years. A few years ago, we started our “Sponsor a Child’ program for Shop with a Firefighter. This program asks anyone who wishes to sponsor a child to go shopping to donate $100 or any amount of their choosing.   

If you would like to make a tax-deductible donation, please send a check made out to 

Athens Fire Auxiliary

P.O. Box 1089

Athens, AL 35612      

Athens Fire Auxiliary would like to thank all of our sponsors that make our organization possible. Without you love and support, we would not be able have Shop with a Firefighter. We would like to especially thank Wal-Mart for their assistance each year. We would like to recognize Steelcase for their dedication to our program each year. They support us greatly and for that we are truly thankful!