Greater Naples Fire Rescue District starts Project Fire Buddies

Reporter: Michelle Alvarez
Published: Updated:

Greater Naples Fire is the first fire department to start a Project Fire Buddies program in Florida.

On Wednesday, they celebrated a little boy with a complicated health journey.

Noah Langlois’s dad died suddenly right after they brought him home from the NICU, and his mom found a tumor on Noah’s 1st birthday. He has a long road ahead, but Noah is doing well and will now have even more support behind him.

Project Fire Buddies pairs kids and their families with a local fire department, and the firefighters make periodic visits while the children are fighting their illnesses. Alex Ivanisevic, a Chicago firefighter, brought the program to Southwest Florida.

“This is very important to me. I love doing things for people,” he said.

“The goal is to find as many kids as we can in our district that we can help and reach out to hopefully provide their family with some comfort throughout what they’re going through, build relationships with them, and the rest of the community,” Ivanisevic added.

Even though Noah has already been through his battle and is already a year post-treatment, they will continue to show support up to one year after the child is in remission, bringing toys and medical supplies.

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