Pink shirts pay off

Jason Tidwell and Liz Hurley

The Madison Fire and Rescue made an astounding donation Oct. 25, as paramedic and driver Jason Tidwell presented Liz Hurley of the Liz Hurley Breast Cancer Fund a check for $10,800 following a pink T-shirt sale.

The department started wearing and selling the pink T-shirts in June, and Tidwell said then that their goal was to raise $10,000 to donate to the fund.

“When Jason called me back in the summer, I never expected anything like this,” Hurley said. “This is an enormous amount of money.”

The department sold the shirts for $15 apiece.

Tidwell said the department would like to make the fundraiser, or one like it, an annual event.

In other actions during the council meeting:

—The Madison Street Festival Committee presented checks totaling $6,450 to eight organizations in the community, including AMUBCS with $2,400, Inside-Out Ministries and the Madison Animal Rescue Foundation with $1,000 apiece, Aspergers Connection with $750, the Madison Lions Club with $500, Rainbow Elementary School with $300 and the Bob Jones High School Chorus with $250.

“After we pay our bills, proceeds from the annual event are given back to the Madison community, through grants,” said Shrail Heinrich, committee president. “In the past, the group has given money to the Madison City Schools’ band programs and libraries; Madison Public Library; Madison Senior Center and Dublin Village Apartments. In the early 1990’s the gazebo in downtown Madison was built with Madison Street Festival proceeds. This is just a partial list of the groups to which we’ve given funds.”

—The council approved funding for seven resource officers in the Madison City Schools. The school system will refund the money at the end of the school year.