CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A 5-year-old West Virginia boy has donated his life savings – nearly $46 in change – to help rebuild a volunteer fire station that burned down in an Oct. 1 electrical fire.
The Charleston Gazette reported Saturday that Joshua Shaffer donated $45.85 from his piggy bank to help rebuild the main station of the Sissonville Volunteer Fire Department north of Charleston.
Tom Miller, with the fire department’s board of directors, says the donation underscores community support for rebuilding. He says West Virginia schoolchildren have raised more than $5,000 already.
The fire department’s insurance covered only about half of the $2 million in damage. Firefighters have been running borrowed fire trucks on emergency calls from a nearby auto shop.