The Firemen’s Cheer Fund is probably the oldest charity in Bartholomew County that depends solely on public donations for its existence. It is one of several efforts within the Columbus Community at Christmas to provide the needs with useful gifts.

The Firemen’s Cheer Fund was founded by the Columbus Fire Department in 1930, when some caring firemen realized that poor children probably see few, if any, gifts under a Christmas tree. City firemen banded together that Christmas to hold a party for some 50 needy children to whom they gave presents, using $1,500 collected from the community.

One of the firemen dressed as Santa Claus and distributed the gifts during a party held at the old fire station just west of the old city hall on Fifth Street. The number of youngsters receiving gifts multiplied in the next few years as the Cheer Fund’s goals caught on, and city firemen adopted the project on an annual basis.

To handle the overflow of children at the popular Christmas Party held each December, the firemen erected a large circus like tent next to the fire station. The Cheer Fund lapsed from 1945 to 1947, when city firemen felt their efforts were duplicating that of other community-minded groups concerned about the poor.

Firemen re-instituted the fund in 1948 and added a new wrinkle, that of delivering the gifts. Deliveries remain to this day, and picnics were held from 1949 to 1951. The Community Picnics were held at Donner Center, The Crump Theatre and The Indiana Army/National Guard Armory, which was then located at Seventh and Franklin Streets.

In 1949, the Cheer Fund gave its first bicycle, and from that Christmas forward, the refurbished bikes are among the most popular gifts the fund gives. By 1949, some 400 children were receiving toys and treats the parties at Christmas time.

In 1957, the project was expanded to include all of Bartholomew county. In 1963, the Cheer Fund became a corporation, and a board of directors was named. At this point the City Police force also joined in helping coordinate the project for a period of time, but has since stopped their involvement.

Experiencing even more success in the mid and late 1960’s, the fund began providing food baskets to the elderly.

Just before the economy started to suffer in the mid 1970’s, the Cheer Fund broke new ground by making a special gift of a television set to the county Home for the Aged. They also gave a fleet of 25 bicycles to the local Children’s Home and began delivering gifts to the pediatric ward at the hospital.

In 2005-06 the Cheer Fund assisted approximately 600 needy families and over 1,462 children. Each child received a cheer box with one new outfit of clothes, three new toys, and three gently used toys from the annual community toy collection. Hundreds of new and refurbished bicycles were also distributed.

The Cheer Fund also assisted 412 needy, elderly and handicapped residents of Bartholomew County by delivering a food basket containing enough food for a nourishing holiday meal. The Cheer Fund also provides a working smoke detector to whoever requests one, in 2005-06 we distributed 148 smoke detectors.