"Give An Hour" to honor Fire Station 19
Can you contribute an hour of time and some basic food items to show appreciation for a dedicated group of DeKalb firefighters? 

The Tucker Civic Association (TCA) will hold a "Give An Hour" project on Sunday, March 14, 3:00 to 4:00 p.m., for the personnel at Fire Station 19, 3253 Mercer University Drive.
TCA began its "Give An Hour" program a year ago, giving residents an opportunity each month to donate an hour for a worth cause. At the first "Give An Hour," a couple dozen Tucker citizens brought bags of pasta, canned goods, coffee and assorted staples, and spent an hour in fellowship with the firefighters and medics at Fire Station 5 on Lawrenceville Highway. In the following months, Tucker residents cleaned up parks and a youth athletic field, preserved old timber at an historic farm site, and repainted safety curb lines at an elementary school.

The "Give An Hour" this March will honor men and women who have established a national reputation. Fire Station 19 is one of two stations in DeKalb County with hazmat (hazardous materials) units, and is ranked by Firehouse Magazine as the busiest hazmat station in America.

Captain Darin Boozer explains that the station has large responsibilities. "We’re the hazmat unit for the northern half of DeKalb County. We’re also a regional response team, so we respond to situations across the state."

The station, running three shifts a day, is home to three companies of about 13 firefighters each, and every man and woman is a certified hazmat technician. They have been trained to deal with natural gas leaks, overturned gasoline and diesel tankers, and other spills of hazardous chemicals.

The station is now in its 35th year of service. The men and women of Station 19 have responded to some memorable incidents, including an overturned tanker at Buford Highway and I-285 in 2004 (the longest shutdown of I-285 in Atlanta history) and the burning of a Gwinnett transit bus under Spaghetti Junction in 2006.

They also answer an amazing variety of smaller calls including traffic accidents, apartment fires, heart attacks, and feverish children. In fact, 75% of their calls are for medical concerns. 

Regarding the "Give An Hour," Capt. Boozer said his personnel really appreciate gestures of community gratitude, especially now. "We’re not here for the money," he said. "If you don’t take on this job with an attitude of serving the community, you’re in the wrong business. The fact that a community group wants to show their appreciation, that goes a long ways."
For more information on the TCA "Give An Hour" program, including suggestions of what to bring to Fire Station 19, please visit the Tucker Civic Association website at www.tuckercivic.org.

TCA projects for MLK Day draw dozens of volunteers
January 18

The Martin Luther King, Jr., Holiday is organized as a national day of service, generating volunteer efforts in communities across the nation.
Tucker Civic Association (TCA) used the holiday this year – Monday, Jan. 18 – to sponsor four community service projects, in conjunction with TCA’s “Give An Hour” program. Under that program, TCA holds one or more projects each month at which citizens of Tucker are invited to volunteer an hour of work for a worthy cause.
Three of TCA’s District Representatives sponsored events on MLK Day. District 3 Representative Jannean Bello sponsored the day’s first event, a 10:00 a.m. clean up at Tucker Recreation Center on Lavista Road. About 40 volunteers picked up rubbish and yard waste on the driveway, the parking lot, the yard and the playground. Adults and children combed the campus, filling about 20 large bags.
Jannean also sponsored an 11:00 a.m. project at Midvale Elementary School. Some 20 adults and kids wire-brushed curbs at the school and then rolled down new yellow paint on the curbs.
About noon, District 4 Representative Ron Wilkinson led an effort to clean up the grass triangle at the intersection of Lavista Road and Lawrenceville Highway. The 5 volunteers who showed up picked up litter and removed the remnants of a grill cart – metal frame and shelves – which had been dumped on the adjacent grounds of the new public library.
At 1:00 p.m., some 20 adults and children gathered at Johns Homestead historic property on Lawrenceville Highway to help TCA District 2 Representative Robert Koch and DeKalb Parks & Greenspace Environment Manager Dave Butler pick up trash and pull up privet.
Residents who showed up at the projects gave a variety of reasons for volunteering. Lorine Spencer said, “I just wanted to do my community duty.”
Mary Weeks, who attended with her daughter Amanda Weeks and Lorine’s daughter, Jessie Spencer, explained, “We’ve been wanting to get the kids to do community service. It reinforces the importance of getting involved on a local level.”
Tommy Lupo, who came to the clean up at the Johns Homestead property, talked about his local interest. “I live right around the corner. This is part of my neighborhood. And the fact that we’re preserving history right here in Tucker is really cool.”
Becky Howd, who also volunteered at the Johns Homestead property, added, “I like old things and seeing them preserved. And with this (project) you get to meet people who share the same passion.”
Tucker Civic Association’s “Give An Hour” program this year has enlisted the efforts of scores of resident volunteers and benefited local institutions including the Tucker police precinct, the Tucker fire station, a youth athletics facility and Livsey Elementary School. TCA will soon announce a schedule of “Give An Hour” projects for the coming year.

Tucker High School has been a major
part of the Tucker community and prides
itself on a longstanding tradition of
excellence. On Jan. 14 we celebrated with the staff, students and community of Tucker High School.

Click here to download a PDF with
more details.