For 25 years, Friends of Firefighters has been a safe, independent, and confidential place where active and retired FDNY members and their families can turn.  We’ve always operated like the firehouse kitchen table -- a place where you can sit down, reflect, reset, and know you don’t have to carry the weight of the job alone. 

To honor this milestone, we are hosting our Friends of Firefighters 2026 Resilience Gala this fall. 

This evening marks a defining inflection point for Friends of Firefighters as we celebrate 25 years of trusted service and look ahead to the future of firefighter mental health and wellness.

In the spirit of honoring the past, while investing in the future, we will launch the Friends of Firefighters Legacy Endowment Fund during this year's Gala with a special paddle raise. Our goal is to grow the Legacy Endowment Fund to $2 million, creating a lasting source of support for the mental health and wellness of firefighters and their families for years to come.

Our goal is ambitious, but it comes from 25 years of experience and a ever-growing demand for our services. This fund will allow us to be prepared for moments we cannot predict, with the capacity to support up to 10,000 free counseling sessions at any given time, so that when our community faces extraordinary challenges, Friends of Firefighters is ready to respond.