Tim Salo
Donor

Tim Salo is no stranger to the notion of giving. Having grown up on his family's farm in Ottertail County, Minnesota, he learned early the values of hard work and caring about those around him.

Tim has been a firefighter in the Byron Fire Department since 1991. He's fallen in love with the Fire Department and its work of saving lives.

Tim thinks variety is the spice of life, and there's plenty of variety in firefighting. He's an EMS, a Paramedic, and a member of the Technical Rescue Team. He also teaches the Firefighter II class at Rock Valley College, a course certifying students in the basics of the craft.

He finds great satisfaction in passing on the knowledge he has gained over the years to both students at Rock Valley and young firefighters in the department in Byron. Firefighters all get a taste of adrenaline from the job, he says, but, at the end of the day, if you don't care about helping other people, firefighting is not the career for you.

Another way Tim chooses to help people - and he's been doing it since college - is to give blood. In typical Tim Salo fashion, he has gone further. He also organizes a blood drive each year in November at the Byron Fire Department. In 2008, Tim and his friends recruited 113 blood donations.

A couple of years ago, he helped organize a bone marrow drive for a local Byron-area businessman and friend. 800 people joined the marrow registry, and 235 blood donations were made. It was the largest bone marrow drive in RRVBC's history.

"Donating blood is easy," Tim says. "And it's not inconvenient. How else can you help three people resting in a comfortable chair talking to nice people? It's cool to know you're helping others. You can't beat the feeling."

As for convincing other firefighters to donate, he says if he can get a person to come and donate just once, they'll be back. RRVBC applauds Tim for his determination in supporting the local community blood supply. In November of 2008, he recruited 23 brand new donors to his drive, which is a big help in replacing the constantly changing donor base.

According to Tim, it's extremely fulfilling when he gets a call from RRVBC telling him one of his donations has helped someone in need. "What could be better than that," Tim asks. "And it doesn't cost me a dime."

Even when Tim is having fun, he figures out ways to help others: like riding his Harley. This past summer, he helped out his sister and brother-in-law, who organized a 100 mile Harley tour to benefit Ronald McDonald House. More than 1,000 riders roared through the countryside and generated $100,000 in the process. The whole thing started because a family friend stayed at a Ronald McDonald House when his child was seriously ill - and wanted to give back. In Tim's world, what goes around comes around.

Tim likes to spend time at home, too, especially with his kids and grandkids.

He enjoys gardening and that other "g" word: golf. He doesn't think he's got a future on the PGA Tour, but something he is proud of is his skill in the kitchen - proud enough to share it with fellow firefighters, for whom he cooks from time to time. He likes to share family recipes with the men because, he says, "we're all family, too."

For Tim Salo, family is a very broad concept.