If you buy July 4 fireworks at a tent or stand in Bend or Redmond you are likely supporting a church or helping fight disease.

Representatives from charities said they are doing firework sale fundraisers with TNT Fireworks, a national retailer, because it’s profitable and fun.

Michelle Maxwell, youth leader with Deschutes Christian Fellowship of Bend, said this is the church’s first fireworks sale. Church members attended a TNT orientation in Portland and set up their 1,600-square-foot white tent in the Fred Meyer parking lot in Bend last week.

She and fellow church member Michelle Brooks said they hope to raise $9,000 to $18,000 by July 4.

They will use the money to support mission work, including one to an orphanage in Mexico in August with about 20 members of the church and its youth group.

”It’s really fun and the youth ministry is helping, serving the public, and it’s a way for us to get to know the community better,” said Maxwell, as she ran the register Wednesday. ”We’ve already signed up for next year.”

Jim Dwyre, area manager for TNT Fireworks in Clackamas, said some locations do well while others struggle. On average, each TNT Fireworks tent or stand in Bend averages about $30,000 in sales in 12 days.

The charity keeps 20 percent of the profits, Dwyre said.

Charities are operating fundraisers with TNT at 10 locations in Bend and Redmond, he said. That has been the case for nearly the last decade, Dwyre said.

Nationwide, TNT partners with more than 5,000 community and national organizations to sell fireworks as an annual fundraising tradition. It is the primary source of funds for many of the groups, according to TNT’s Web site.

Casey Brooks, youth pastor of Deschutes Christian Fellowship of Bend, said the church invested less than $2,000 in the fundraiser for miscellaneous items, including staff shirts and decorations for the tent.

Teens from the youth ministry in matching yellow staff shirts answered questions about the neatly stacked and labeled fireworks.

Alex Maxwell, 14, said one of the most popular items this year is the ”Monster Tractor,” an 8-inch long truck that, when ignited, spews fountains of sparks from its smokestack, spinning sparks from it’s bed, whistles and drives backward. It sells for $3.99.

Another favorite is the ”These Colors Don’t Run” fountain of red, white and blue sparks, he added.

At the TNT Fireworks stand in the parking lot of Safeway on Highway 97 in Bend, volunteers from the Amaranth Diabetes chapter of Central Oregon sell fireworks to raise money for diabetes-related causes.

Anna Weathers of Bend said this is the third year the organization has set up a fireworks stand.

”This is our major fundraiser for the year,” Weathers said.

Weathers said the group typically brings in between $2,000 and $3,000 dollars.

In addition to providing Fourth of July essentials, Bill Korte of Redmond, who also volunteers at the stand, said the volunteers remind customers of the importance of getting children checked for the disease.

”We remind them to have children under six months old checked for diabetes,” Korte said.

Customers who patronize the state can also donate money to The Ronald McDonald House by dropping cash in a jar on the counter.

On Newport Avenue, in the parking lot of The Newport Avenue Church of Christ, another TNT stand helps provide funds for children to go to summer camp.

Cathy Carroll can be reached at 541-383-0304 or at ccarroll@bendbulletin.com.

Kristy Hessman contributed to this story. She can be reached at 541-383-0350 or at khessman@bendbulletin.com.