FOF hosts Annual Chuck Williams Auction

Lexington, Ky. (WTVQ) — Christmas is just a couple of weeks away and the Lexington Fraternal Order of Firefighters are hard at work getting everything ready for their annual toy drive.

On Sunday the FOF hosted their Annual Chuck Williams Auction at the North Pole. The auction was named in honor of firefighter Williams who lost his life in the line of duty in 1997.

“Retirees, families, the public come in and kind of see our hard work,” said Chris MacFarlane, President of FOF. “We’ve spent two months working on donations. All of which came in this last week.”

Half of the items for the live auction were handmade by firefighters. This included furniture, some have been made by a former fire chief for the past 50 years, leather fire helmets, paintings, floor tickets to a UK basketball game, collectors Blanton bourbon, a brand new flat inch tv and so much more.

There were rows of of silent auction items as well.

“Every bit of the money that is raised here today goes to buy toys for the kids of Fayette County,” said Andy Carter with the Lexington Fire Department. “They don’t go out of Fayette County, it all stays right here for the families of Lexington, Kentucky.”

Before the auction 24 teams competed in a chili cook-off.

After the winner was announced, people could enjoy the chili for lunch.

Everyone was able to enjoy a slideshow of photos from the toy drive. With pictures ranging from the 1940’s to today.

Toy give away day will be held on Saturday, where families can come and pick the toys for their children.

“It’s a fun experience for the families, their very appreciative, and we’re glad to help them,” said MacFarlane. “We know that when they call 911 they want us there in a hurry. They want us to help them with housefires, car wrecks and medical emergencies, but we’re also able to provide this to them as well. ”

For these firefighters, it’s all about giving back to the community.

“This way for us to actually give back and watch the joy and nobody be hurt or their house is caught on fire,” said Carter. “We can kind of interact with the community a little better that way, so it’s pretty cool.”

Anyone who wants to help donate can drop off an unwrapped gift at a fire station until Friday or send a gift through the FOF Amazon QR code until Monday.