Campaign Raises $30K for MA Firefighter Battling COVID-19

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A GoFundMe looking to help a volunteer firefighter battling COVID has raised more than three times its goal.

“We are hoping to raise $10,000 to cover Jason’s rent, utilities, and car payment,” the GoFundMe states. “Once he is sent home, we plan to cover his food expenses as well.”

After just one day, the GoFundMe has raised more than $30,000.

Jason Doyle, a 38-year-old volunteer firefighter from Rockport, “has been battling COVID for about 3 weeks now and has been in Beth Israel Hospital ever since his landlord found him in poor condition after a well-being check,” the GoFundMe states.

He became a volunteer firefighter in 2002, and has been a DPW employee in town since 2001, according to the site.

He has an underlying health complication, which means he “will have a long recovery once he gets home.”

“Jason is a hard-working young man who never asks for help, so this experience has been very difficult for him. He is used to paying his own way, and helping others with no questions asked,” wrote Janelle Favaloro, the GoFundMe’s organizer. “I’m hoping we can provide him with enough money to cover basics while he is recovering, so he can relax and know we have his back. Firefighters are a family, and this is how we roll.”

Massachusetts reported 3,110 new COVID cases on Sunday and 105 more deaths.

First responders, including police officers, firefighters and emergency medical personnel will be eligible for the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine starting Jan. 11, Gov. Charlie Baker announced.

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