By: Donna Duperron
An event that my family looks forward to each year is the Torrance Firefighters Association Spaghetti Dinner. Celebrating their 50th anniversary, funds raised benefit the Alisa Ann Ruch Burn Foundation’s Champ Camp. Serving over 52,000 spaghetti dinners prior to this year’s event, the Torrance Firefighters Association has raised over $230,000.
“The Spaghetti Dinner is important in so many ways. It is a wonderful community event, it is a family affair, it’s a way to give back, and it’s an event for the younger generation of firefighters to carry on. Torrance Fire Department Captain Scott Diekmann and his wife Bobbi have been involved in this event for 25 years, said Ryan Mendivil. It is truly a passion for many of us, said Ryan Mendivil, President of the Torrance Firefighters Association.
The Spaghetti Dinner began in 1974 and was held at Fire Station #1. Benefits were donated to the burn center at Torrance Memorial Medical Center. Today, the Alisa Ann Ruch Burn Foundation’s Champ Camp is the benefactor of benefits. Champ Camp is a week-long, residential summer camp experience for child burn survivors ages 5-16, who have been treated at California hospitals or are current residents of California.
Champ Camp is free to all burn survivors and it is fully staffed by medical doctors, nurses, program staff, volunteers, and counselors – many of whom are also burn unit nurses, burn doctors, adult burn survivors and firefighters. Activities at the camp include fishing, horseback riding, crafts, canoeing, archery, water slides, campfire, a dance, and team-building activities.
“The Spaghetti Dinner holds a special place in our hearts. We do this event each year because accidents do happen and as a result, they often create life-changing situations,” said Mendivil.
