This Weekend, A Public Fundraiser for Heroes

June 30, 2013 was a dark day for America. Nineteen firefighters risked their lives to control a devastating Arizona fire and lost.

This weekend, the Pasadena’s Fork in Road Foundation remembers the heroic acts and sacrifices these brave souls offered by sponsoring a fundraiser event for the families of those who were lost.

“We lost 19 of the best firefighters in the world, that Hotshot team. It’s a devastating loss. With my Fork Foundation and the cooperation of the firefighters in the Pasadena, we can raise a lot of money for the families and help them get back on their feet,” says Phil Coombes, CEO of the Fork in the Road Foundation and organizer of the event.

The event will be held for two days, starting Friday, July 19 from 7:00 am to 5:00 pm, and then on Saturday, July 20 from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm. It will be held at “the Giant Fork in Pasadena.” says Coombes, at 200 Bellefontaine St.

“We’re going to be having off-duty firefighters from Pasadena Local 809 out there, and a reserve fire truck as well. Look for the firefighters there with the boots and come by and donate,” says Coombes.

Pasadena Fire Department Captain Harry Kurdoghlian adds that Coombes “wanted to do this and asked the firefighters if they would like to help. So surely the firefighters said yes. We’re going to be there in conjunction with their volunteers, as well as off-duty firefighters to assist the collecting of donations. A hundred percent of all the proceeds will be donated to the Fallen Firefighters Foundation.”

Coombes adds, “The funds are going directly to the families affected. It’s not going to my foundation. It’s not going through the Firefighters Union or any other cities, it’s going directly to them. 100%. In fact, anybody who is going to make a check donation would make it straight to Yarnell Hill Firefighters Fund.”

The timing of the event is perfect, according to Coombes, because he belives the families of the fallen firefighters need immediate help.

“When I started the Fork Foundation, the Fork in the Road, it was a metaphor for change, and helping and reaching out. There was an immediate need to help these families recuperate and get on with their lives and so it was something I thought was important to do right away,” Coombes explains.

Something to do right away. And the Pasadena Fire Department has responded in typical PFD fashion: quickly and wholeheartedly.

“The fire service is sort of a small family. When any one of us dies in the line of duty, it really affects us all. We feel quite a lot for their families left behind, their children,” says Kurdoghlian.

“It really puts us not only in shock but in sadness that one of us has fallen again in the line of duty and it just proves again that we do a dangerous job and that any minute that alarm goes off, our lives are at danger at any moment,” he added.

To get the word out about the event, Coombes is asking people to make the event go viral.

“Go on to Facebook and if they’re not a friend already or liked the page, it’s called Put the Fork in Hunger [Editor: https://www.facebook.com/PutTheForkInHunger ]. Like the page, share it with others, encourage everybody to do the same and just get the word out. Encourage everybody to come by and support this great effort for the fire department,” he says.

The Fork in the Road Foundation was started three and a half years ago as a practical joke when “we put up a giant fork at a Fork in a Road and it was a birthday gift,” says Coombes.

Getting away with the prank, with some getting laughs out of it, Coombes figured that if the fork was to stand out and remain, it “was necessary that we do something good with it and initially we started off with a food drive, Put the Fork in Hunger. And it really, really resonated with the city. The City of Pasadena and surrounding cities are some of the most giving people in the nation,” he says.

The rest, as they say, is history.

To help make the event go viral, and to find out more about the Fork in the Road Foundation, visit and like its Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/PutTheForkInHunger.