Voorhees woman honors first responders

As a token of her appreciation, Midge Priest feeds the Kirkwood station firefighters every year on the anniversary of Sept 11, 2001.

Priest, who has lived across from the station since 1952, was deeply moved by the events of that day.

“It was quite an emotional day and I just wanted to honor the fallen firefighters in New York,” she said, noting how firefighters face danger every day.

“They do a good job,” Priest said. “They risk their lives daily.”

She provided pizzas, hoagies, and cake to the firefighters and said she will do it as long as she is able to.

[caption id=”attachment_17634" align=”alignleft” width=”300" caption=”(Standing L-R) Mark Lafferty, David Conti, Jim Arpino, Ken Vandegrift, Tim Zeck, John Stahl, Midge Priest, George Road, Barry McCutcheon, Jim Poland, Cliff Demo, Chief Jim Pacifico. (Kneeling L-R) Charles Knighton, Jr., Greg O’Conell, Scott DeFilippis, Kevin Dunn. Priest serves the firefighters lunch every year on the anniversary of 9/11.”]

[/caption]

Firefighter Jim Arpino appreciates the gesture.

“It’s definitely something that’s very nice,” he said, noting Priest is a good neighbor.

“We don’t need a thank you for what we do,” Arpino added. “We do appreciate it but this is our job.”

He said 9/11 was the single greatest loss of firefighters in history.

“And the only way that you can honor them is just do your jobs,” Arpino said. “We come to work every day, we carry on their mission.”

Scott DeFilippis, firefighter/EMT, said he and three others went to Liberty State Park in NY on 9/11 for 13 hours.

“I just think it’s a tremendous thing she does for us remembering the sacrifices that were made by the New York City firefighters and police officers,” DeFilippis said. “It’s greatly appreciated and very heartfelt.”

He said remembering all those who perished on 9/11 is important because it is part of our history.

“I think the best way to communicate that is to keep 9/11 alive with the day of remembrance” by saying prayers for the deceased and flying the American flag, DeFilippis said.

Battalion Chief Mark Lafferty said every year Priest makes a short speech before she provides the food.

“She’s a very special person to us,” he said. “After 9/11 she obviously was horrified by what took place that day and especially the loss within the fire service and she’s been a near and dear friend to the fire service here in Voorhees.

“We couldn’t be more thankful to have her as a neighbor, having community support of what we do here is very important,” Lafferty added. “To have a neighbor see the value in us and support us is fantastic.”

He said 9/11 was the most tragic event along with Pearl Harbor to ever happen on U.S. soil and that it affected every person, every walk of life, and every religion.

“Everyone remembers it as a tragic day in America but we remember it more like the loss of our fellow firefighters in New York,” Lafferty said. “It hits us hard, it hits us really hard.”

Fire Chief Jim Pacifico said Priest supports the fire district “100 percent.”

“She remembers 9/11 — she remembers watching us go into lockdown mode” and all the safety precautions they had to take, he said.

“It changed our country forever,” Pacifico said of 9/11. “We need to keep remembering these individuals for what they did.”