How Denis Leary uses his annual Firefighter Challenge to generate donations for fire departments

Denis Leary’s Innovative Approach Transforms Firefighter Funding

Denis Leary had grown tired of conventional fundraisers. The actor-comedian, currently starring in Fox’s “Going Dutch” and known to millions as the voice of Diego in the “Ice Age” franchise, wanted something different for his Leary Firefighters Foundation.

“I didn’t want to do another golf tournament or auction,” Leary explained. Instead, he developed what he initially called a “crazy idea” – the “Firefighter for a Day” event. Working alongside the Fire Department of New York and The FDNY Foundation, Leary created an immersive experience that coincides with International Firefighters Day on May 4.

Since 2016, the Denis Leary FDNY Firefighter Challenge has offered civilians a rare opportunity to experience real firefighter training at the FDNY Fire Academy on Randall’s Island. It’s the only day each year when the academy opens its doors to non-firefighters.

“It was exciting from the get-go,” Leary told The Associated Press. “Now, 10 years in, it just gets better and better every year. It’s truly amazing.”

Participants train with active firefighters, rushing into controlled burn buildings, carrying fire hoses to extinguish flames, and conducting search-and-rescue operations. They even rappel down buildings in simulated emergency evacuations.

The event often pushes participants beyond their comfort zones. Leary recalled when “The Good Wife” star Julianna Margulies attended, initially planning to observe rather than participate. “Maybe two hours later, I went over by the high-rise simulator and she was coming out in full bunker gear saying, ‘I just rappelled down the side of the building!'” Leary recounted. “She overcame all her fears.”

Leary’s Hollywood connections have attracted numerous celebrities, athletes, and corporate supporters to the event. This star power has significantly boosted the foundation’s grant-making capacity.

“When we started this 10 years ago we were giving out maybe $200,000 in grants a year and now we’re giving out $850,000,” said David Morkal, retired FDNY battalion chief and foundation board member. “We hope to reach $1 million in grants this year. There are volunteer fire departments out there that are fighting for every $100 they can get.”

The foundation’s mission stems from personal tragedy. Leary established it in 2000 following a devastating fire in Worcester, Massachusetts, that claimed six firefighters’ lives, including Leary’s cousin and a childhood friend.

“His mission is to provide them with all the equipment and training that firefighters need to walk away from a fire after it’s out and go home to their families,” Morkal explained. “That’s the kind of stuff we’re doing.”

The impact reaches fire departments nationwide. John Tyson, assistant fire chief at the Talladega Fire Department in Alabama, said the forcible entry trainer his department received from Leary’s foundation is used almost daily. This equipment, which helps firefighters quickly breach locked doors during emergencies, was beyond the department’s limited budget.

“We’re a small department in rural Alabama,” Tyson said. “It’s touching to me that someone who has achieved the success he has still wants to give back.”

Edward A. Kelly, General President of the International Association of Fire Fighters, representing 360,000 firefighters across the U.S. and Canada, expressed mixed feelings about the foundation’s necessity.

“I wish the Leary Firefighters Foundation wasn’t needed, that fire departments were able to afford the equipment and training they need without philanthropic help,” Kelly said. “We have a problem where fire departments in the United States are on budgets competing with a multitude of other demands on city government – whether it’s schools or new bridges or parks or anything that’ll get a politician reelected. That’s a flawed system.”

According to Kelly, most fire departments nationwide now have equipment donated by the foundation during its 26-year history. “We owe a great debt of gratitude to Denis and to all the people that have helped support the Leary Foundation,” he said. “Whatever will fill the gap that will prevent the next tragedy is well worth the investment.”

Leary briefly hoped government intervention after 9/11 might make his foundation obsolete. “There was a brief moment about six months later when we thought, ‘Is the government gonna step in?'” he recalled. “It was the tiniest glimpse of hope but we realized, ‘No, of course not.’ But that’s OK. I love doing this.”

He credits Boston Bruins president and hockey legend Cam Neely’s charitable work supporting cancer patients at Tufts Medical Center as his inspiration. “He was the first person I saw where I thought, ‘Wow, somebody famous can really make a difference,'” Leary said. “So by the time I had to do something, I had a good example of what you can use fame for.”