Trent seeks votes because B+ Foundation donations critical
Shelter Island’s Trent Firestine as of the stabf this week was in first place in his group and needs to emerge at the top to go forward to the next phase of the competition on the road to becoming Mr. Health & Fitness for 2026. The contest winner will win a $20,000 honorarium and a cover and feature in “Muscle & Fitness Magazine.”
As significant as that is for the winner, more significant for Mr. Firestine is that the program is a fundraiser for the Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation in memory of Andrew McDonough was an athlete who, at the age of 14, lost his life to AML Leukemia. Andrew had helped lead his team to victory in a Pennsylvania State Soccer Championship
His father Joseph McDonough formed the foundation naming it for Andrew’s blood type to raise money to provide financial assistance to families of children with cancer and to fund pediatric research.
Mr. McDonough
With his son’s grim diagnosis, he was not expected to live more than a day after being rushed to a hospital in cardiac arrest. He fought for 167 days before succumbing to the illness.
When the Reporter wrote about Mr. Firestine’s entering the competition, the man who has helped many others on Shelter Island and the North Fork to achieve their best healthy selves, talked about how important it is to him to help the foundation and especially to invest winnings in developing a program for patients with Parkinson’s disease or ALS, known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, to gain as much movement as possible.
Mr. McDonough read the Reporter story sent to him by a friend and reached out to Mr. Firestine with a message of support:
“I was so touched when I read Julie Lane’s article about u and how you mentioned that the contest was more important because it helps B+. We are the largest provider of financial assistance to families of kids with cancer in the country,” Mr. McDonough wrote. “Your participation in contests like tis allow us to help so many more families,” he said. “I wish you well in the contest and thank you, again, for participating.”
If you want to help Mr. Firestine become Mr. Health & Fitness, you can vote for him without a contribution, but if you wish to help the B+ Foundation at the same time, you can purchase extra votes either by visiting Mr. Firestine’s Facebook page or contest site at //mrhealthand fit.com/2026/trent-firestine.
Voting in this critical phase continues until 10 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on Thursday.
