April 16, 2012 -- Last November, Portland Fire & Rescue's (PF&R) fire stations and the Portland Fire Chief’s Association put together baskets of donated items to be put up for auction at the annual dinner and auction to benefit the Trauma Intervention Program, or TIP, of Portland, Vancouver and SW Washington. 

The themed baskets offered everything from manual labor (6 hours of yard work, painting someone's house, etc.) to a night on the town that included dinner at a station, a ride to a Blazer's game, and ice cream following the game. Overall, the themed baskets raised $8,640.00. The Portland Fire Chief's Association were the winners of the basket auction with the highest "bid" basket. 

Heroes with a Heart Annual Dinner and Auction is a fundraiser put on every year by TIP NW, which brings together community members and TIP volunteers in a dinner, silent auction, and live auction. Trauma Intervention Program is an organization made up of extensively trained citizen volunteers who provide emotional support and to victims and their families in the first hours that follow a tragedy. They are called to the scene by Police and Fire emergency responders.  

TIP volunteers are available to emergency responders 365 days a year, seven days a week, 24 hours a day. In 2010, TIP received 1,925 calls, served 11,910 clients and spent 6,948 hours with their clients. More information about their program is available at their website www.tipnw.org. PF&R is incredibly appreciative of all of the work that they do, and encourages anyone who can to donate time or money to this important organization.

Learn more about the TIP Program at http://www.tipnw.org.