Jones County Fire and Rescue Fundraising Wheelchair Basketball Game

Jones Co, MS - Jones County Fire and Rescue firefighters will meet The Rolling Tigers wheelchair basketball team in a Fundraising Wheelchair Basketball Game, Saturday night, April 25, at 6 p.m. in the JCJC P.E. Gym in Ellisville. The purpose of the fundraiser is to raise funds for MACE (Metro Area Community Empowerment), www.mace-ms.org, which helps the disabled in Mississippi to play sports.

Glade Volunteer Fire Department President, Trey LaFitte, a member of The Rolling Tigers, issued the challenge to Jones County firefighters, who will play the game in wheelchairs also. The Rolling Tigers are spotting the firefighters several points, “to make it fair for the firefighters,” stated LaFitte.

In 2015, Mississippi will have the distinction of being the first southern state to host the Wheelchair Softball Association (NWSA) World Series, which will be held in Biloxi, August 5. Last year’s event was held in Minneapolis, Minn., and over 400 wheelchair athletes, from 20 states, and three countries, including Japan and Australia, participated in the event.

MACE is in charge of organizing the World Series event, and the funds raised will go toward helping the organization with this huge endeavor, as well as empowering the disabled in Mississippi play sports.

“In addition to this being a fundraiser, our main goal is to show disabled people out there that they can still do things they may have thought they could never do again,” exclaimed LaFitte.

Story & Photos by Linda Cranford, Jones County Fire Service PIO