SILVERDALE –Central Kitsap Fire and Rescue firefighters have raised $18,869 to help fund the fight against leukemia and lymphoma during the 2015 Scott Firefighter Stairclimb in Seattle.
The 11 members of Team Central Kitsap were among the nearly 2,000 firefighters who took part in the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society fundraiser at Seattle’s Columbia Center March 8. Wearing 50 pounds worth of “turnout gear,” firefighters walked up 1,311 steps to ascend 69 floors in the state’s tallest skyscraper. The vertical height totaled 788 feet.
Ryan Orseth was one of the Team CK members.
“It’s an awesome feeling to be able to know that you did a huge thing … not just for Central Kitsap Fire and Rescue but for the families out there that really needed it,” Orseth said.
“If you don’t think that leukemia or lymphoma affects you, I guarantee it will. Before you’re dead, it will affect somebody you love. And the faster we get a cure, the faster we don’t have to deal with this any more.”
Team CK’s fundraising efforts since 2011 have been “exponential” according to Orseth. In 2011 the team raised around $3,000 and another $3,000 in 2012. But in 2013 the figure tripled to $9,000 and in 2014 the total increased yet again to $16,400.
This year, Orseth himself contributed $5,102 to the team’s $18,869 total. Fellow team members contributed as well: Lindsay Muller raised $3,795, Linda Jenkins raised $2,541, Doug Bekenyi raised $1,600, Kyle Good raised $1,561, Dave Mackovjak raised $1,145, Scott Weninger raised $862, Steve Werner raised $852, Tom Sullivan raised $425, Lindsay Reese raised $409, Brian Fuchs raised $350. Another $225 was also raised.
Several people and businesses donated the money to the cause. Addicted to Massage and Silver City Brewery were two of Team CK’s biggest sponsors. This January, Team CK raised $1,000 by hosting their own run called the Cancer Fighter’s 5k.
For the second year in a row, Orseth said, CKFR raised the most of any of the county’s seven fire departments.
“We dominated everybody. A lot of hard work went into it,” Orseth said.
“It’s all about the team you have. I could have a team of five people and still out-raise money from other teams.”
Orseth said team members only had two goals: To raise a lot of money, and to climb to the top of the building safely.
Orseth, who said he has run several half marathons, met his personal speed goal of finishing the climb in under 20 minutes – 19:23.
“That’s 17 seconds per flight,” he noted.
Orseth viewed each step taken as a step closer to finding a cure.
“You have to realize every step is really nothing in the big scheme of things because you’re fighting for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. And if you ever met these kids and people who have lost lives … they’ve gone through surgeries, they’ve gone through everything you could possibly believe and that’s ten times worse than climbing some stairs with full gear on,” Orseth said.
Every platform on the way up had a photograph of someone who had fought the diseases or was currently being treated for it.
Team CK’s Jason Fernandez and Patrick Busby worked as the team’s bottle changers on the 40th floor. They worked like a race car pit crew to pull the spent air bottle off climbers and replace it at lightning speed with a fresh one.
Team CK has a goal of raising $20,000 and they have until March 31 to finish their fundraising efforts.
To donate, visit the team’s web page at http://goo.gl/HQiY5l and above the “Central Kitsap” line click the red “Donate Now” bar.
