Today, tomorrow and Thursday, June 25-27, from 2 until 6 p.m., Milwaukee Firefighters will be out collecting donations across the city to benefit Warm Up Winter, a program that buys coats for kids in need.
Look for the firefighters everywhere in Milwaukee, but especially at "good intersections" for MFD collections, like 27th and Oklahoma, 1st and Virginia, and Franklin and Brady.
Warm Up Winter has collected more than $502,000 -- which has purchased 34,000 winter coats -- for Milwaukee children in need at 70 schools since 2011.
Last year, the three-day fundraiser collected nearly $90,000.
You can also make a donation and get more information at warmupwinter.org.
The coats will be distributed to Milwaukee elementary schools determined to have the greatest need in autumn.
Please give and when you see the firefighters out there with the collection boots, please keep them safe and thank them for keeping us all safe.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
