Austin Firefighters Tim LaFuente (right) and Eli Santiago (left)

By Mike Cox
Five years ago, Firefighter Tim LaFuente got an idea on City time that quickly evolved into an off-the-clock project that has benefited hundreds of elderly Austinites. While waiting for a meeting at the Conley-Guerrero Senior Activity Center, he began nosing around, surveyed its large kitchen and thought he could cook a holiday meal for the elderly.

So with some donations and some volunteers - and with LaFuente doing most of the cooking - the feast of turkey, dressing and traditional side dishes was served to 140 men and women. The next year 220 were fed. Last year this Austin Firefighters Senior Holiday Luncheon had a crowd of more than 800. But cooking isn't LaFuente's only connection to food service. He and fellow Firefighter Eli Santiago deliver hot meals to elderly clients each week for Meals on Wheels and More.

And while making rounds during his lunch hour, LaFuente soon realized that many of the elderly
might be seeing firefighters under much less pleasant circumstances. Only one out of four had smoke alarms. The firefighter coordinated the application for an $85,000 grant to expand a program that provides free smoke detectors. So far approximately a thousand have been placed in the homes of these very vulnerable residents.

In recognition for his outreach to Austin's elderly - both on and off the clock - the Texas State Association of Firefighters honored LaFuente with its 2007 Paul Kelly Humanitarian Award. The honor, which includes a gold Super Bowl-style ring and a plaque, is conferred only every other year.

"I didn't do any of this for the recognition," the 22-year firefighter says. "I just wanted to do something to give back to the citizens, the folks who pay our salaries."