MANCHESTER — First responders in Manchester are featured in a new, powerful video for the holiday season thanking them for their service.
The video, which was produced by local marketing firm Silent Partner Marketing, based in Manchester, is about « the men and women keeping us safe, » CEO Kyle Reyes wrote when releasing it on Facebook on December 6. In less than one week has picked up more than 1 views on Facebook and 52,000 shares.
« I am honored to release this video in honor of the police, firefighters and EMS who put their lives on the line for us. I’m hoping each and every one of you who watches this video will tag a first responder (or 10) and share this video far and wide as a show of solidarity and support for them, » Reyes wrote in his post.
On Wednesday, FOX 61 spoke to some of the first responders featured in the video.
« We tend to think of our public safety officials the same way children think of their teachers, that they’re not really humans that go home every night, » said Manchester Police Chief Marc Montminy. « Well, we are. »
« Quite often, people are responding to either a uniform or a badge, and they don’t realize that these are real people, » said Manchester Fire Chief David Chief Billings.
The video was designed to humanize those who protect and serve our local communities, which is why the Manchester Fire Department, Manchester Police Department and Manchester Fire Rescue EMS were all involved in the video. It’s also a fundraising effort by the marketing firm, which intends to donate $500,000 to local first responders and veterans.
The campaign was intiially going to be for $250,000, but Reyes wrote on his Facebook page that the video elicited responses from « so-called ‘social justice warriors,' » who he said called « for a ban on our business for supporting ‘pigs’ and ‘horrible people’ such as police and our veterans. » So Reyes decided to double the ammount.
« Now, I think everybody sees us for what we are — a positive influence on society, and that’s the kind of message we want to get out there, » said Chief Montminy.
« The vast majority of people that come to work — law enforcement, firefighters — that come to work every day, are there to do good, » said Manchester Fire Chief Donald Moore.
« They have no ulterior motive. There’s no hidden agenda. They just purely are here to serve, » added Chief Billings.
Montminy, Billings and Moore were on Fox Friends on Tuesday morning to discuss the video:
First responders in Manchester, CT deliver a powerful message to the people they protect this holiday season… pic.twitter.com/MOIgwoTcUM
— FOX friends (@foxandfriends) December 13, 2016
Here’s the full video, which runs about 1 minute and 45 seconds: