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A fundraising effort by the Roanoke Valley Chamber of Commerce and the Rotary Club of Roanoke Rapids raised enough money to not only buy new mattresses and boxsprings for the city fire department’s two stations but the two stations in Weldon.

It will also leave the Roanoke Rapids Fire Department with enough money to buy other equipment, said Ginny Lewis, president and CEO of the chamber.

Roanoke Rapids fire Chief Jason Patrick said today as he drove to help deliver mattresses to Station 2 and then to Weldon depending on how much money is left over, the fire department should be able to get some new radios and possibly a new thermal imaging camera.

The mattresses bought with the money raised from the hot dog bag lunch sale Thursday came from Greg Edwards of Rest E-Z at Shell Furniture. “I love to do it any time I can,” he said. “Everyone in the community comes together. It’s really impressive. A big thank you to the fire department and police department from Shell.”

While all the figures hadn’t been tallied as of this report, Lewis said, “We did quite well. There will be money left over for equipment. I’m overwhelmed by the way the community stood up.”

City Manager Joseph Scherer said at Station 1, “I’m just happy this happened.”

Patrick said, “Our guys have been very appreciative of the support from the community.”

While the new bedding was needed to replace older mattresses and boxsprings, the focus of the department and its firefighters have been on equipment to aid in battling fires. “Our guys are about serving others and not themselves. We look at things to help protect the city,” Patrick said.

Weldon fire Chief Rusty Bolt echoed Patrick’s sentiments. “It’s nice of the community to look out for the firefighters.”

Bolt said the department hasn’t had new bedding in at least 25 years.

But, he said, the Weldon Fire Department, like Roanoke Rapids, always has firefighting equipment in mind. “It’s nice to have the community to help us.”