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More than 300 members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints gathered last month at an LDS church on Pump Road in Henrico to donate smoke alarms to leaders of Richmond-area fire departments. The effort was designed to assist a program that provides smoke detectors to homes in underserved communities.

The event, dubbed the church’s Firefighter Appreciation Day, took place May 19. Its dual purpose was to acknowledge firefighters for their service and assist the community overall, according to Kasey Tross, assistant director of public affairs for the church’s Chesterfield stake.

“We had heard about this initiative that the firefighters had putting smoke alarms in homes of underserved areas, and we wanted a way to give back and help them with that project,” Tross said.

Church members from Henrico, Hanover, Chesterfield and Richmond donated $3,750 to purchase the smoke alarms, according to a press release from the church.

The event was well-attended and ran smoothly despite the heavy rain, Tross said. The fire truck present for the event had to leave to address a rain-related car crash but returned before the proceedings were finished.

“We had a really good turnout, and we were surprised with the rain that so many people did come,” Tross said.

After the event, more than 100 volunteers from the church dispersed to deliver care packages containing treats, cards and signed appreciation posters to forty local firehouses, according to the press release.

Local Mormon leaders began planning Firefighter Appreciation Day in January, Tross said, and the event was the beginning of a new church initiative to become more active in its community.

“We haven’t done anything really like this before,” Tross said. “It was a big success and we definitely plan on having similar events in the future.”

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