Brothers Helping Brothers was started in early 2014, when Nick Magoteaux’s co-worker/firefighting brother, Art Springer, was hospitalized with the H1N1 virus. Originally, Nick started a line of t-shirts to raise money for his medical expenses. Unfortunately, Art passed away from complications of the H1N1 virus on January 23, 2014. The decision was made to continue the t-shirt campaign to raise money for Art’s daughter, Mollie. Through various efforts, Nick and his brothers from the Phillipsburg Fire Department (Phillipsburg, OH) and The Red Knights Ohio Chapter 16, raised over $20,000 for Mollie.
One of Art’s passions was making sure his brothers at the Phillipburg Fire Department had the proper tools, even if it was at his own expense. Many other fire departments out there today are without the necessary tools and lifesaving equipment and do not have the funds needed to buy them. This started the passion to create Brothers Helping Brothers.
We want to build the Brothers Helping Brothers brand, by raising funds to provide vital tools and equipment to small and/or rural fire departments in need. Brothers Helping Brothers became a 501c3 non-profit organization on July 1st, 2014. Since being founded they have given out fourteen grants and are working on many more. Brothers Helping Brothers is also researching to find out what tools and equipment are most needed in the fire and EMS service, in hopes to raise awareness of what departments desperately need. If you are interested in donating to help our mission, please visit our donate page.