Jared Pelt lost his father earlier this year when Jermaine Pelt died of smoke inhalation while battling a blaze on the South Side. But the firefighter’s legacy lives on through a fund that will help support the young family he left behind.
On Monday, the Chicago Fire Department presented Jared Pelt, 6, with $11,000 from the Jermaine A. Pelt Memorial Fund at the Robert J. Quinn Fire Academy in the West Loop neighborhood.
The fund in Pelt’s honor was created by the Chicago Fire Department’s Ende, Menzer, Walsh & Quinn Retirees’, Widows’ and Children’s Assistance Fund, which also presented $460,000 to 418 families on Monday.
Jared’s mother, Ariana Roby, said the money will go a long way, including for living expenses and college.
“We’ve really had the support we needed over the past year now,” Roby said. “It feels really good to know that they’re thinking about us.”
Roby said she’s received hundreds of phone calls, emails and texts from firefighters and community members extending condolences.
Pelt, 49, joined the Chicago Fire Department in 2005 and was based on the South Side his entire career. He was a registered nurse, paramedic and instructor at the fire academy. Fellow firefighters remembered him as “the kindest person” at work and a great firehouse cook.
He is one of four Chicago firefighters who have died in the line of duty this year, believed to be the most in nearly a quarter-century.
The EMWQ fund aims to help the families, many of whom have historically struggled financially after the loss of a family member, said Tony Martin, captain of Truck 45 and secretary of the assistance fund. The fund works to provide support for those whose loved one has died, even if it wasn’t in the line of duty.
Martin said most of the money in the fund comes directly from former or current firefighters who send in donations.
The EMWQ Fund was created as a nonprofit in 2007 and named after four firefighters who donated to widows and children, said Daniel Fortuna, president of EMWQ.
“I think it’s important, we’re a family right?” Martin said. “We’re trying to take care of those kids, remembering their parents who were our brothers and sisters.”
For 11 years, the EMWQ fund has given a gift to the wife and children of firefighter Jason Mayoski, who died of a heart attack in 2012.
Every year, Jennifer Mayoski said the money helps buy gifts for her children that “bring back the holiday cheer,” but most importantly it helps her feel continued support from the fire department.
“Even though it’s been 11 years, they don’t forget about us,” Mayoski said.
Mayoski said she has stayed in contact with firefighters her husband worked with and still sends Christmas cards to the firehouse because she remembers how much he loved those he worked with.
“CFD is our second family,” she said.
