LEWISTON — The Lewiston Firefighters Association presented its first Community Service Scholarship to Hana Elabe, Lewiston High School senior and Lewiston Youth Advisory Council member.

Matt Wiers of the association presented the $750 award. The association has supported the activities of the youth council financially for several years.

“Hana will be pursuing a career in either psychology or business management. She has been a very active member of the youth council and has welcomed the opportunity to ‘give back’ to her community,” said Deputy Recreation Director Joline Banaitis, who has worked with the youth council.

The LFA Community Benefit Fund was developed in the mid-1990s to positively impact the community. Over the last decade, the association has distributed nearly $60,000 for such things as sponsorships of sports teams, project graduations, and other charitable drives and funds.

The association also sponsors several annual Christmas giving programs in cooperation with Hope Haven Gospel Mission and the Salvation Army. Shortly after Thanksgiving, firefighters and their families annually shop for needy children whose names are acquired from a cooperative list obtained from partners at Hope Haven and the Salvation Army.

Part of the Lewiston Firefighters Association’s mission is also saving lives, and it has donated automatic external defibrillators to Lewiston City Hall and the Lewiston Public Library. It has established a grant program to help subsidize placement of these devices in other areas of the community.

In November 2013, the association provided new American-made winter coats to 102 children while partnering with Operation Warm, a national nonprofit.  The Lewiston Fire Department is the only fire department in the state that participates in this program. The Community Benefit Fund donated over $3,000 to provide these coats to the children at Androscoggin Head Start.

Since 2006, Lewiston firefighters have also helped find a cure for muscular dystrophy through MDA’s Fill the Boot Campaign. It 2013 the department led the state with $13,000 and has an eight-year total of $83,541. Lewiston firefighters have had a long-term relationship with a youth who has muscular dystrophy and who loves all things firefighting; he is now an honorary member of the Lewiston Fire Department.