Putting Around Boca Grande March 23
The Boca Grande Fire Department is holding a mini-golf event to raise funds for safety supplies and disaster relief.
“It should be a good time, and the money is going to some really cool things,” said Peter Kirvin, president of the Boca Grande Firefighters Association.
The “Putting Around Boca Grande” fundraiser, hosted by Respect First Responders, will take place from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 23. Registration will run from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. before the event.
Respect First Responders is a nonprofit organization created to help supply first responders with safety equipment and resources during natural disasters or other major events. This is the organization’s first fundraiser
After the hurricane, the island felt kind of grim, Kirvin said. Folks were noticing that Boca Grande wasn’t the same after the destruction from Ian, so he decided they needed to put on a local event. It had originally been planned for last year, but it is finally becoming a reality this March.
Park Avenue and East Railroad Avenue will be the two main streets of the putt-putt “course.” There will be an open house in the fire station, a costume contest, a DJ, an awards ceremony, and there might even be a ball drop from the top of the ladder truck.
The businesses that are partnering with the department include Hudson’s, Keylime Bistro, Grande Aire and Scarpa’s Coastal. Each business gets to set up its own putt-putt hole at its location and design it however they want.
Sponsoring a hole is $100, and proceeds will go directly to Respect First Responders and the Boca Grande Fire Department. For $200, the nonprofit organization will set up the hole for your business.
Kirvin has been with the Boca Grande Fire Department for 22 years and owns Fire Ninja, which manufactures safety equipment for first responders.
He has been donating safety supplies to those in need since 2017, and he started Respect First Responders during the COVID-19 pandemic to help overcome supply-chain issues.
“We get safety equipment and we have it prepped and ready to go, so if a hurricane happens, or as soon as a large-scale emergency happens, we ship it out to them,” Kirven said.
The organization has sent equipment to Guatemala after earthquakes, Syria and Turkey after the earthquakes in 2023, and Miami after the 2021 condominium collapse.
Kirven knows over 100 distributors who can donate safety equipment. He is hoping to create a hub where he can build disaster pallets that are ready to be shipped out at a moment’s notice.
To sign up for sponsorship, call (855) 850-FIRE or email sales@fireninja.com. Contact Event Coordinator Peter Kirvin at (914) 587-3787 or R1R.org with event questions.