Firefighters from the Spalding County Fire Department will be out the the first two weekends in May with boots in hand.

The department’s 23rd annual Give Burns the Boot fund-raising drive will be be May 3-5 and May 11-12. Donations help the Georgia Firefighters Burn Foundation.

Spalding County Fire Chief Kenny West, chairman of the local effort asked, “please give generously when a firefighter asks for your support.”

The Burn Foundation works to educate the public in burn awareness and prevention, supports medical facilities including the Burn Center at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta and the M. Still Burn Center in Augusta in the care of burns and assists burn survivors in their recovery. In the past nine years, the foundation has awarded more than $185,000 to departments across the state for fire safety and burn prevention programs.

Money raised by the Spalding County Fire Department also goes to Camp Oo-U-La, the state’s only camp held exclusively for burn-injured children. Last year the camp celebrated its’s 19th anniversary and welcomed 94 campers.

Cost for the camp and volunteers is covered entirely by the Georgia Firefighters Burn Foundation.

Spalding County Fire Department firefighters will be out at intersections across the county beginning Thursday. May 3, through Saturday, May 5, and the following weekend, Friday and Saturday, May 11-12.