Poway firefighters raising money for Chelsea’s Light
By Emily Sorensen
Two Poway firefighters are raising money through a triathlon for the Chelsea’s Light Foundation.
Ruben Salgado, left, and Josh Fernandes.
Josh Fernandes, and his fellow firefighter Ruben Salgado, are hoping to raise $5,000 for the foundation, which was formed in honor of Chelsea King, the Poway teen who was murdered in 2010.
“It hit kind of close to home for us,” said Fernandes of himself and his wife, who works as a social worker at Pomerado Hospital. An experienced runner, Fernandes is planning to push himself to a new extreme by participating in an Iron Distance Triathlon on Saturday, Dec. 1, in order to help raise the funds.
Fernandes, who has worked for the City of Poway’s fire department for six and a half years, recruited friend Ruben Salgado, an eight-year veteran of the Poway fire department, in order to help him raise the funds. The duo began planning the fundraiser three or four months ago, and have been working with the Chelsea’s Light Foundation to set it up. The biggest hurdle so far has been trying to figure out a way to collect donations and keep track of them, said Fernandes.
Though Fernandes has never run a triathlon before, he says he’s been training hard. “I’m on a strict training regimen,” said Fernandes. He has been training six days a week, sometimes running 10 miles a day on top of swimming or riding his bike. The triathlon will be a total of 140.6 miles, with a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride and a 26.2-mile run.
Though the fundraiser hasn’t actually collected any money yet, Fernandes is hopeful that they will succeed in his and Salgado’s goal.
“I hope [we reach $5,000],” said Fernandes. “I’d like to surpass that, but I know there’s a lot of people out there raising money for worthy causes.”
Those who want to donate to Fernandes and Salgado’s fundraiser for the Chelsea’s Light Foundation can do so online at Fernandes’ blog. You can either donate a set amount, or donate per mile Fernandes accomplishes in the triathlon.
For more information and to donate, visit swimbikerun4hope.blogspot.com.
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Short URL: http://www.pomeradonews.com/?p=27889
Posted by Emily Sorensen
on Aug 24 2012. Filed under Local News, Poway.
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