The Selma Fire Department donated almost $8,000 to the Muscular Dystrophy Association Wednesday morning — the largest donation the department has ever to made to MDA through its annual Fill the Boot campaign.

Selma Fire Chief Toney Stephens presented the check to Angie Jordin, executive director of the Muscular Dystrophy Association in Montgomery.

“It makes me feel good about it,” Stephens said about the record donation raised by his staff. “The thing I feel the best about is the effort the guys put in. The guys are the ones that are going to be out there enduring the heat and actually soliciting to get these collections and overall I think our guys did an outstanding job.”

Christy Cruze, the fundraising coordinator for MDA, said it’s heartwarming to see a fire department work so hard at raising money. Stephens said the department had a truck stationed Wal-Mart each Saturday from April into August.

“They already go the extra mile in what they do for their jobs on a day to day basis so when they choose to fill the boot for MDA they are going the extra second mile because they really care about their citizens,” Cruze said.

She said the money raised will help with research efforts.

“We have several medicines that are going through the FDA approval process so it really affects people’s lives, short term and long term, not only those living with the muscular dystrophy but the people who love them to,” Cruze said.

She said it costs about $2,000 to send a child to summer camp and every minute of research is $65.

The fire department’s efforts could help fund more than 800 minutes of research.

Stephens said the donation wouldn’t be possible without the generosity of the community and the department’s partnership with Wal-Mart.

“Without them, there’s no possible way we could’ve reached this goal that we set this year,” Stephens said.