|
Spring 2007 Employee-Directed Grants
This spring, Fireman's Fund employees awarded 26 grants, totaling $428,000, to fire departments and organizations across the country. Funding for employee-directed grants, part of our employee Bucket Brigade program, is tied directly to our company's performance. The better Fireman's Fund does financially, the more the fire service and the communities they serve benefit.
For this issue, we chose to focus on the story of one department in dire need of some of the most basic equipment of all. A list of other employee-directed grants selected this spring, plus those awarded through our independent agents, can be found below.
|
Our employee panel takes a break from reviewing dozens of grant
nominations.
|
Patch Job
Faced with fire hoses that had long outlived their intended lifespan, James Trainor, Chief of the Fire Department for the City of Meriden, Connecticut, and his firefighters routinely cut away worn and leaking sections of hose and re-connected the still-functioning sections for use on their first-responder trucks.
After hearing about the Fireman's Fund HeritageSM program, Trainor contacted Meriden-based Webster Insurance, a local agent offering Fireman's Fund products, to seek the agency's help in obtaining a Fireman's Fund Heritage grant. The chief connected with Gail Feinstein, vice president at Webster, who asked Dan Devin, an employee in the Hartford office of Fireman's Fund to submit an application for new hose.
"My heart went out to them," says Feinstein. "We knew how much they needed new hoses – and this was crucial to our employees, since this is where we live and work." The city's fire department is chronically underfunded, and is able to allocate just five percent of its yearly budget to new equipment purchases. "We're thrilled that the grant was approved," says Feinstein. "It says so much about the commitment of Fireman's Fund to the fire service, and their commitment to its local agencies."
"I've been in the fire service for 36 years — the fire service has always helped the insurance companies in terms of reducing losses," Trainor says. "Only occasionally do you see insurance companies turning around to help us. Now Fireman's Fund is making a concerted effort."
Share Your Story
Has a Fireman's Fund Heritage grant helped your fire department save a life or even property? We'd love to hear about it so that we can remind our employees and agents about the true value of this program. Please email heritage@ffic.com.
|
 | |
|
Grants in Brief |
|
|
Fireman’s Fund employees and independent agencies are directing grants to fire departments across the country. Congratulations to the most recent Fireman’s Fund Heritage grant recipients:
Arizona
- Fort Thomas Volunteer Fire Department, Fort Thomas — $18,593 for turnout gear
California
- Big Near Lake Fire Department, Big Bear Lake — $25,000 for helmets and alarm system
- Big Sur Fire Brigade, Big Sur — $6,647 for extrication equipment
- Bolinas Fire Department, Bolinas — $11,200 for turnout gear
- Cordelia Green Fire Department, Cordelia — $18,000 for an automated external defibrillator
- Palm Springs Fire Department, Palm Springs — $5,015 for rechargeable flashlights
- City of Riverside Fire Department, Riverside — $19,674 for rappelling equipment
- Sacramento Metro Fire Department, Sacramento — $33,340 for defibrillators for rescue vehicles and boats
- Larkspur Fire Department, Larkspur — $21,000 for an emergency response vehicle
- Napa Firewise Program, Napa — $23,000 for an industrial-sized wood chipper
- South San Francisco Fire Department, South San Francisco — $9,540 for CERT training materials and disaster supplies
Colorado
- North-West City of Meriden Department of Fire and Emergency Services, Fairplay — $26,460 for fire hose
Connecticut
- City of Meriden Department of Fire and Emergency Services, Meriden — $26,460 for fire hose
- Washington Volunteer Fire Department, Washington Depot — $7,870 for rescue equipment
Florida
- Safety Harbor Fire Department, Safety Harbor — $6,332 for hydraulic rescue equipment
Illinois
- Dixmoor Fire Department, Dixmoor — $16,800 for extrication equipment
- Maywood Fire Department Maywood — $10,124 for two defibrillator training systems, airlift bag and air cart
- Oak Lawn Fire Department, Oak Lawn — $15,195 for hydraulic rescue equipment
- Dupage County Fire Investigation Task Force, Wheaton — $10,000 for respirators, cartridges, safety glasses, helmets and gloves
Kansas
- Kansas Fire & Rescue Training Institute, Lawrence — $50,000 for firefighter training facility with live fire fighting simulation
Maryland
- Laytonsville District Volunteer Fire Department, Laytonsville — $5,500 for firefighting foam and CPR mannequins
- New Market District Volunteer Fire Company, New Market — $7,500 for fire hose and nozzles, and forcible entry equipment
Massachusetts
- Auburn Fire Department, Auburn — $33,944 for air packs with voice amplifiers, fit testing and training
- City of Birmingham Fire Department, Birmingham — $20,000 for two thermal imaging cameras and related accessories
Minnesota
- Freeport Volunteer Fire Department, Freeport — $13,500 for radio communications equipment
- Hanover Fire Department, Hanover — $16,800 for radio communications equipment
- Loretto Fire Department, Loretto — $7,250 for a thermal imaging camera
- Minneapolis Fire Department, Minneapolis — $14,095 for two thermal imaging cameras
- West Metro Fire Rescue, New Hope — $15,000 for turnout gear
- St. Augusta Fire Department, St. Cloud — $25,000 for a used pumper engine and hydraulic equipment
Missouri
- Antonia Fire Department, Barnhart — $16,636 for a thermal imaging camera and turnout gear
- Rock Hill Fire Department, Rock Hill — $15,000 for a thermal imaging camera
- Shrewsbury Fire Department — $10,000 for communications and rescue equipment
- Van Buren Volunteer Fire Department — $24,000 for a thermal imaging camera and turnout gear
New Jersey
- Demarest Volunteer Fire Department, Demarest — $5,000 for a firefighter personal escape system, fire hose nozzles and airbag security net
North Carolina
- City of Goldsboro Fire Department, Goldsboro — $6,000 for three defibrillators and accessories
Pennsylvania
- Bethel Park Volunteer Fire Company, Bethel Park — $5,000 for multi-gas meters
- Cheltenham Hook & Ladder Company No. 1, Cheltenham — $33,960 for hydraulic rescue equipment
South Dakota
- Sioux Falls Fire Department, Sioux Falls — $5,000 for smoke detectors
Tennessee
- Lewisburg Fire Department, Lewisburg — $26,700 for self-contained breathing apparatus and air bottles
Texas
- Westlake Fire Department, Austin — $5,729 for A/V equipment for training
- Dallas Fire Rescue, Dallas — $15,471 for forcible entry tools and USAR protective clothing
- Ennis Fire Department, Ennis — $12,000 for a thermal imaging camera
- South Lee County Fire Department — $5,000 towards an equipment truck
- Houston Fire Department, Houston — $8,397 for protective goggles, extrication gloves and lockout sets
- Paige Volunteer Fire Department, Paige — $5,000 for personal protective equipment and tools
- Proctor Volunteer Fire Department, Proctor — $10,571 for pagers and flashlights
Utah
- Cedar Mountain Fire Protection District, Duck Creek Village — $5,000 for firefighting equipment
Washington
- Whatcom County Fire District #17, Ferndale — $9,863 for portable radios and EMS supplies
A complete list of grants (pdf) is available at www.firemansfund.com/heritage.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
