Volunteers help make the world go 'round

Volunteers are amazing! Did you know that 70% of all firefighters in our nation are volunteers? I have come to take this fact for granted as I have been working with firefighters for about 8 years now. Unfortunately the general public is not always aware of the sacrifices that these volunteers make.

Would you be willing to:

• be on call 24 hours a day
• risk your life for the safety and well being of others
• attend mandatory training at least once a month (this is after your hard day of work at your full-time job)
• work with the tools and equipment available, which are not usually “state-of-the-art”
• hold fundraisers to buy the equipment needed to ensure continued protection of your community because your municipality is unable to provide more funding
• sacrifice time with your family and friends

Not many of us can say yes to these terms, but almost one million volunteer firefighters say, “Yes, I will” everyday. Thank goodness for these men and women.

Supporting the cause--monument or equipment?

My hometown of Fort Worth will soon have a monument to honor firefighters and police officers that have been lost in the line of duty. This wonderful tribute will be located right nearby my office--quite a coincidence, since I am interested in all things firefighter.

However, while I support these types of projects, my support is in spirit only. When it comes to financial support, I would rather my money go toward buying equipment and supplies that the firefighters need. For instance, we recently had the privilege of providing a rural volunteer fire department with two self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) units--the protection that allows firefighters to breathe and communicate with one another when entering a fire scene. This type of equipment, which small departments often cannot otherwise afford, can help save firefighters' lives during an emergency.

I appreciate the effort that the Fort Worth Police and Fire Fighters Memorial Committee is putting into this new monument, which will serve as a reminder of the price these brave folks sometimes pay to keep us all safe. And for those who wish to contribute, by all means do so. But as for me--I think I will continue to do my part by working to keep our heroes' names off the memorial.

Striving to serve

So many requests for funding all of a sudden! Is it the magic of the internet or are we finally becoming well-known by the population we strive to serve? A little of both I imagine.

I have received grant requests from six volunteer fire departments just since January. For our little non-profit this is a lot. The requests are for equipment, gear, and stuff they really need. Oh, I wish I could start writing checks right now. Instead I will be writing letters acknowledging receipt of the application and informing those applicants that we must raise some more money before considering their requests. We have some funds from our last fundraiser but must keep those available for the injured firefighters and the families that suffer the biggest loss. The volunteer fire departments are accustomed to having to wait for what they need (unfortunately) so they are always very understanding and still appreciative of what we do.

Lesson learned

I am about 7 months away from my non-profit’s annual fundraiser. Time to start planning—but just for me. Last year I made a big mistake in attempting to bring together my event committee at about this time. The meetings started too soon, and it became apparent to me that I had not done myself any favors by starting this early. My planning committee suffered from meeting fatigue and event burnout long before the event was here. We actually held meetings in which we accomplished nothing new and we all just chatted and caught up with each other. Don’t get me wrong—I like and deeply appreciate the folks who give their time to help coordinate this ever-growing event, but even I was sick of these meetings by about August. So this year, I will apply the lesson I learned in 2006...hopefully I will accomplish just as much with less pain inflicted upon my dear committee.