Alan “Beetle” Heck has helped people in need for 30 years, and now the community wants to give back while he recuperates from injury (submitted photo)
by Jonathan Weaver
An Armstrong County fire department will hold a spaghetti dinner benefit this weekend to raise money for one of its firefighters.
Sugarcreek Township’s volunteers will hold the benefit to support Alan “Beetle” Heck, a long time volunteer who was injured during a fire a Giovanni’s Pizza shop along State Route 268 December 20.
Fire Department President Chuck Adams remembered how Heck got injured.
“At the Giovanni’s Pizza shop fire, he slipped and fell on the ice and uneven terrain, fell backwards and did something to both of his knees,” Adams said. “He had to have surgery on both of his knees within a day or two.
(Doctors) are saying six to eight months (Heck will be) confined to a wheelchair, no load-bearing on his legs at all. We’re doing this benefit to help him with anything during the recovery process”
Heck, a volunteer for the fire department and Sugarcreek ambulance service for more than 30 years, was in-charge of the main pumper truck that night and early-morning and was injured actually after the fire was knocked down.
“The fire department’s sponsoring this and giving us the hall, but members of the fire department and residents in the community are doing it together,” Adams said. “We’re getting a lot of help from people in the community wanting to volunteer.”
Donations of food and raffle items for the Chinese auction have been collected for the benefit from western Armstrong County to Tarentum and Clarion County.
Adams added that it was easy for local residents and friends to get on-board with the fundraiser because of his dedication, even though Heck prefers to “be in the background.”
“Alan’s a real quiet-type guy, he’s a guy that he’s there through it all and the hours of clean-up afterward, he comes up and helps at the dinners. He (doesn’t) think twice whether it’s a major call or somebody’s carbon monoxide alarm keeps going off and it’s a false alarm – he’s still there every time.”
The spaghetti dinner will be held from 2-6PM Saturday at the fire hall, along Rodgers Road in East Brady. A $10 donation includes an all-you-can-eat dinner, including salad, desert and refreshments.