Mike “Otter” Gonzalez first became aware of the AARBF in 1989. One of his friends at the firehouse, Bryan had been burned in a small airplane crash and treated at Bothin Burn Unit in San Francisco. After his recovery, Bryan and two other Firefighters started a golf tournament that in the second year (1989) named the AARBF as the beneficiary. Mike and his wife, Evie assisted with the tournament each year. In 1997 San Mateo County Chapter President, Mike Leong came to a SSFFD union meeting to thank the union for raising funds for AARBF and at that time told of a need for Champ Camp counselors. Mike and Evie decided they would volunteer to be Champ Camp counselors the next day, and their alter egos, Otter and Mouser were born. Otter said, “You go to camp thinking you want to give back… and you do… but it’s like anything else that you do when you work hard at it, you get back more than what you gave.”
Throughout the years that followed, Otter continued to volunteer for AARBF for different programs and in a variety of ways, including the board of directors!
In the past couple of years, Otter has taken a step back from with his event volunteering, focusing the majority of his energy on the launch and growth of the “Friends of Alisa Ann Ruch Burn Foundation” which is a quasi-Alumni Association for past and present volunteers, champ counselors, staff, prevention partners, fundraising partners, survivors and their families, basically everyone who has been a stakeholder for AARBF these past 55 years. Otter along with his committee members have worked diligently reaching out to past volunteers and reengaging them with AARBF through monthly foundation updates, including social, volunteer, and donor opportunities. If you are interested in joining the Friends of AARBF, please provide your contact information here: https://forms.gle/AMQrDVo4NcSmZU6i8
For questions about the association, please reach out to Mike “Otter” at 650-515-6142 or otter.mouser@pacbell.net.
Please help us thank Otter for his 38 years of service to AARBF and for his continued commitment to our success.