News Enterprise story highlights Crusader

News Enterprise story highlights Crusader

Longtime Crusade for Children fire department coordinator Mike Hulsey is now in his 40th year of helping make life better for children with special needs. Here’s a great article from The News Enterprise in Hardin County about Mike and this year’s Crusade efforts in Hardin County. THANKS MIKE for your continuous support!


Crusade Sunday marks 40 years for E’town Chief

By BOB WHITE
bwhite@thenewsenterprise.com

The 2010 WHAS Crusade for Children drive in Elizabethtown was marked by the absence of longtime Ky. 86 Fire Chief Louis Crosier.

Crosier’s face was synonymous with firefighting and crusading in Hardin County, said Elizabethtown Fire Chief Mike Hulsey.

As cash from 15 area fire departments poured into a garage at Elizabethtown Community and Technical College’s firefighter school Sunday afternoon, Hulsey horsed around behind the scenes with a smiling and inquisitive granddaughter, pleased with Sunday’s bustle.

Aside from their intimate discussion about the workings of a mechanical pencil, it was a scene that’s played out for Hulsey many times before.

After all, during the past 40 years of Crusade duty, Hulsey has grandfathered 13 other happy and inquisitive little ones.

The event itself has evolved over the years, too.

“When I started, we used to collect by going house to house,” Hulsey said. “It was a month-long event and we’d do good to get $15,000.”

This year’s total was more than $42,000 from Elizabethtown’s fire department and more than $187,000 from the 13 other Hardin County and Greensburg fire departments.

Greensburg is one city fire department which has dropped Crusade collections off in Elizabethtown the first Sunday in June for a long time, Hulsey said.

Firefighters from Upton, Glendale and White Mills also have been collecting with Elizabethtown “from the beginning,” Hulsey said.

Coming from departments chartered decades ago and more recently, firefighters, their spouses and their children gathered at the firefighter’s school Sunday afternoon for the annual drive.

The event certainly is one for firefighting families — especially their children.

The recognizable sound of bagged change jingling throughout the large garage provided an audio backdrop for Sunday’s collection.

From in front of the garage’s large bay door, representatives from each of 15 fire departments delivered their harvests live on WHAS television.

Overall, Hulsey said this year’s local donations will be about even with last year’s.

“And that’s a lot more than what I expected,” he said, pointing to a sheet with “Total: $187,628.09” scratched in pencil – mechanical pencil.

Saying he worried that reports of disappearing money from Louisville-area departments might scare off local contributors, Hulsey said he was relieved that thought didn’t bloom into reality in the Hardin County area.

The WHAS Crusade for Children provides help to families, nonprofit groups, hospitals and others who work with children who need special medical devices and services.

Money collected returns to each county from which it was generated, according to WHAS Crusade for Children.

Bob White can be reached at (270) 505-1750.

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